A Drastic Turn
by Greenwood Dancer
Summary: Sequel to An Unlikely Friendship Elsie Bridges is the prep Bakura crushed on when he first came to Domino High. What happens when she turns over a new leaf and he finds his old feelings for her returning? What will that do to him and Alex?
1. Alex and Bakura

a/n: All right, here's your sequel! I'll tell you when to get your tissues ready, but the beginning is happy and funny. However, after the first few chapters... ahem... just read and take the happiness while you can get it.  
  
Oh, and I don't own "Dreamcatcher." Stephen King does. heh heh... have you begun to realize that in almost every one of my fics there's a Stephen King movie? lol Obsessive? Me? Never.  
  
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"Alex, yelling at the TV won't change what the people are going to do," Bakura informed his girlfriend.  
  
They were watching the movie "Dreamcatcher" at Alex's house and she was constantly yelling at the TV, telling the characters what to do.  
  
"Stop reaching for the toothpick you /moron/! You're gonna' die... agh!" Alex cried, standing up.  
  
Bakura grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her back down onto the couch. "I'm trying to watch the movie, but it's rather hard with you talking to it," he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to hold her on the couch.  
  
"This idiot! Stop reaching for the stupid toothpick! Whatever is in that friggin' toilet is gonna' kill you! Keep the lid down! Agh!" Alex cried, slapping her face with her hand. (a/n: Ahem... yes, this sounds wrong, but I'm not going to explain what's going on in the movie here. If you want to know, email me.)  
  
"Alex! Shut up!" Bakura said, covering her mouth with his hand. When her attempts to pry his hand away from her failed, she licked it. She laughed as Bakura moved away quickly and wiped his hand on the couch. "Alex, that's disgusting!"  
  
"Don't touch me then," she said, going back to watching the movie. "What are you standing around for? Help him! That friggin' deformed snake is gonna' kill your friend! My God that thing is fast... Ack... it must have one hell of a dental bill too!" Alex said, commenting on the alien that the man was now wrestling with.  
  
Bakura laughed at Alex's comments, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "You know, you never do this when we go to the theater," he said.  
  
"That's because we're in public. No! You moron! Now your best friend is /dead/! Oh my God, what are you just standing there for? Are you going to wait for it to finish eating his face, then come for yours?"  
  
"Alex, why don't you pretend we're at the theater and..." Bakura said, but Alex held up a hand to silence him.  
  
"Shut up! I'm trying to watch!" she said and Bakura rolled his eyes.  
  
- Can't win for trying, - he thought, looking back at the TV.  
  
"Go! Run! Move! What's wrong with you? Let go of the door and run! Thank you... ohhhh... now look..." Alex said as the man turned around to see a much larger alien. It looked nothing like it's "offspring," but towered above the man.  
  
Bakura tried desperately to ignore her, but sometimes it was hard. However, as the movie continued, he got used to her yelling at it. After a while, he actually found it kind of cute, as he did with almost everything she did.  
  
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"That was a pretty good movie," Alex said as the credits rolled.  
  
"Yeah, from what I could hear of it over you," Bakura joked. He laughed as he was hit in the arm.  
  
"My throat's kind of dry. I'm going to get some water, you want some?" Alex asked, touching her throat.  
  
- I wonder /why/ it's dry. - "No thanks," he said.  
  
She got up and went into the kitchen. She opened the wooden cabinet and pulled out a glass. She pulled the refrigerator door open and grabbed the water jug out of it. After she had poured herself some water, she slid the jug back into the fridge. Alex leaned on the counter as she took a sip of water. She set the glass down and straightened as she felt hands encircle her waist.  
  
"What the...?" she asked, but was cut off by lips touching her neck. She rolled her head to the side and closed her eyes, inviting the continuation of Bakura's kiss.  
  
After a few seconds, he turned her around and grinned at her. He raised his hands to her shoulders and leaned in, his lips only brushing hers before he pulled away again. She tried to lean in and kiss him with more force, but he held her away, grinning. When he kissed her again, it was the same teasing touch, leaving Alex wanting more.  
  
He repeated this a few times before lowering his lips to her neck. Once again, he only brushed her skin, sending a tingling sensation through Alex's body. She tried to lean into it, but he held her in place. He knew he was driving her nuts, exactly the reaction he had wanted.  
  
Bakura lifted his lips to hers again pulling back as Alex leaned into it. He let go of her, backing up into the living room, a grin on his face. He turned around, continuing into the other room and Alex grinned. She pushed off the counter and ran after him. When she reached him, she grabbed his shirt, pulling him down onto the couch on top of her. She kissed him, putting her hands on his face.  
  
Bakura's heart pounded in excitement as he ran his hands over her shoulders and waist. As their kiss became more passionate, Alex's arms made their way around his neck to caress his shoulders and back. He moved his lips down to her neck and Alex rolled her head to the side, welcoming his kiss. She sighed as his tongue moved between his lips to massage her neck.  
  
Suddenly, they heard the front door open and a jingle of keys.  
  
"Crap!" Alex hissed, pushing Bakura off of her. "It's Jade!"  
  
They quickly sat up and scooted away from each other. Alex ran her hand through her hair a few times and grabbed the TV remote.  
  
"Hey you two."  
  
Alex ignored her pounding heart and looked over her shoulder to see Jade come into the room. Alex checked her watch and scowled. "You're early."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something then?" Jade asked, smirking.  
  
Bakura blushed and sank in his seat. Jade had caught them before and hadn't let them live it down.  
  
Alex shut off the TV and dropped the remote on the coffee table. "Jade, leave us alone," she snapped, standing. She looked behind Jade, a slightly confused look on her face. "Where's David?"  
  
"Oh, he ran upstairs. He's far more polite than me," Jade said.  
  
Alex glared at her older sister. "We're going upstairs, if that agrees with the rules of Jade," she snapped.  
  
"Oh, go right ahead. Just don't get carried away. I don't feel like having a niece or nephew just yet," Jade said, grinning as Alex hit her in the arm.  
  
"Jade! You're sick! Would you just leave us alone? My God!" Alex cried as Bakura went bright red. However, he got up without looking at Jade and followed his girlfriend quickly up the stairs.  
  
Alex nearly knocked Bakura over when she spun around to call over the banister, "And I could say the same to you, Jade! I don't want a niece or nephew either!"  
  
"Alex! I'm far more in control of myself than you! Alex...!" her sister called back, but Bakura and Alex had run up the stairs.  
  
Bakura followed her into her room and closed the door behind him. He took a few steps to Alex and turned her towards him. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips against hers. She placed her arms around his neck and leaned into the kiss as her door opened. Once again they shot apart as they heard David start apologizing profusely.  
  
"Oh! Sorrysorrysorrysorry!" he exclaimed and immediately backed out as Alex came after him.  
  
"/David/! Don't you knock?" she cried, chasing him into his room.  
  
Bakura followed, grinning. Had it been Jade she was chasing, he would have been worried for the redhead's life. But he knew Alex would never hurt her little brother.  
  
"I'm sorry! Aaah!" David cried, half laughing as Alex pushed him down onto the bed.  
  
"You twerp! Knock! It's a good thing I wasn't changing or something!" Alex cried, making both boys snort with laughter. "Shut up, Bakura!" she said, looking over her shoulder at him.  
  
"I didn't say anything," Bakura said, grinning.  
  
"Well you thought it way too loud," Alex said, turning her attention back to her brother. She attacked his stomach and David burst out laughing. "Take that you twerp!"  
  
"Creep! Get off me!" David laughed.  
  
Alex stopped and grinned. "Loser!"  
  
"Freak!" David replied.  
  
"Shrimp!"  
  
David stared at her, trying to think of another name. He looked over her shoulder to see Bakura mouthing, "Prep!" David grinned and repeated it to Alex, who spun off him.  
  
"Don't help him!" she cried, half laughing as she attempted to pummel Bakura.  
  
Bakura laughed and spun her around, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. She looked over her shoulder to yell at him, but he covered her mouth with his.  
  
David grabbed his pillow and threw it at them. "Get a room," he said, grinning.  
  
Alex broke her kiss with Bakura and tried to lunge at her brother. Bakura held onto her waist and refused to let go, no matter how hard she struggled.  
  
"Ha ha! You can't get me!" David laughed.  
  
Bakura grinned at David before letting go of Alex. Her brother, half yelling and half laughing, scrambled backwards into the headboard.  
  
"Ow..." he said, rubbing his head. Alex stopped to laugh a minute and soon the boys joined in with the laughter.  
  
When they had calmed down, Alex, swatted David in the head before getting off the bed. "Keep out of my room!" she said as she left with Bakura.  
  
"I won't go near it with a ten foot pole!" her brother called after her.  
  
When they were back in her room, Alex locked her door. She turned to Bakura, who caught sight of her alarm clock. His eyes widened as he quickly checked his watch.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"I have to go, I told dad I'd be home a half hour ago!" he said, looking at her.  
  
"Oh, that sucks," she said, folding her arms.  
  
"Yeah, but if I don't get home I'm going to be in big trouble," Bakura said, heading to her door.  
  
Alex sighed, and followed him down the stairs. Before he left, she grabbed his shirt, pulling him into a kiss. He leaned her against the door, adding his own pressure to it. After a few seconds, he pulled away.  
  
"I really have to go," he said.  
  
"So go," she replied, grinning as he kissed her again. "I thought you were leaving," she said.  
  
"I am," he said after another short kiss.  
  
"You're still here," she said.  
  
"No, I'm not," he replied, pressing his lips against hers one last time.  
  
Alex moved away from the door and let him out. He waved to her as he headed down the driveway. She closed the door and turned around to see Jade standing at the top of the stairs.  
  
"What are you doing? How long have you been there?" Alex asked.  
  
Jade casually leaned against the wall and checked her watch. "Ohhh... a while I suppose."  
  
Alex blushed slightly and ran up the stairs past her sister. Jade grabbed Alex's arm and pulled her over to her, brushing her hair away from her neck.  
  
"You might want to cover that up," Jade commented, referring to the mark Bakura left on Alex's neck.  
  
"Get off of me!" Alex exclaimed, ripping out of her sister's grip. She clasped a hand over her neck and glared at Jade before turning into her room and shutting the door.  
  
Jade could have sworn she saw a grin flit over her sister's face, though, and it lifted her spirits immensely.  
  
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a/n: Woohoo! First chapter of the first sequel I've ever done! All right, well, you know the drill. 


	2. Jade's Dilemma

a/n: Here are a few answers to my reviewers before we start.  
  
FanFicLunatic234: Well, the /very/ ending will be happy. I'm talking last chapter ending. ^_^  
  
hershey_kiss: I'm pretty sure Kawaii means cute. However, I could be wrong. lol Er... anyone know? Oh, and fluff I think is pretty much romance and lovey stuff. You know, hearts, flowers... the whole works. ^_^ Er.. I don't think my chapter fit into that category, but what do I know, eh? Sorry I haven't updated, I've been having medical problems.  
  
RavenFireI: Ahem... I'm sorry that you're bored. There /will/ be Elsie/Bakura so if you don't like that, I suggest you leave. And you obviously didn't understand exactly what I was trying to get across about Alex. It's complicated and I won't explain it here, but if you don't understand it, don't tell me that /my/ character is out of character.  
  
Now that that's over, on with the show!  
  
(Oh, I don't own Stargate, which is an awesome show by the way)  
  
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Jade was sitting on the couch, flipping through the TV channels. She landed on Stargate SG1 and stopped.  
  
-This is pretty good, - she thought, setting the remote on the coffee table. She leaned back against the couch and sighed. Alex and David were at school and she had taken the day off. She always had the worst cramps that first day of her period.  
  
But she hadn't been able to stay sitting down. Despite the fact she hurt every time she moved, she couldn't just watch TV all day. What a waste of time! She had laundry she had put through the machine, had done the dishes and also vacuumed. Now she waited for the laundry to finish in the dryer.  
  
Satisfied that she had gotten a good day's work in, she got up to check on the dryer. She groaned in pain as she limped slowly into the kitchen. She pulled the sliding closet doors open to reveal the washer and dryer. There was no noise coming from either of the machines, so Jade pulled the dryer door open. She grabbed the laundry basket from above the washer and piled the clean clothes in it. She closed all of the doors and picked up the basket. In any other condition it wouldn't be heavy, but with her cramps it felt like lead.  
  
She made it into the living room and dropped the laundry on the couch, proceeding to fold it and sort it. It was slow work since she couldn't fold very well sitting down, but a half an hour later she had finished and was making a trip upstairs, her arms full of David's clothes.  
  
She entered his room and shuffled through his drawers, stuffing numerous articles of clothing in each. She neatened his drawers quickly, moaning slightly in pain. Jade sat down on his bed briefly, putting her hand on her abdomen. A few seconds later she stood again and made her way back down the stairs. She picked up the pile of Alex's clothes and once again started upstairs..  
  
Balancing the clothes in one arm, Jade flicked on the light, illuminating her sister's room. She sighed as she looked at the posters covering every inch of the walls. She assumed most of them were Linkin Park, her sister's favorite band. She had no idea what the other posters were of. Alex had fashioned a lampshade for herself by using the little knowledge she had of sewing to stitch black fabric onto the original shade. Jade had to admit, it was pretty creative and Alex had done a fair job on it.  
  
Adjusting the clothes on her arm, Jade walked over to her sister's dresser. She pulled open the top drawer and frowned. The clothes were jumbled together in a messy bunch. Sighing, Jade set the clean clothes on the bed and pulled out everything in the drawer. She began to fold and organize all of Alex's clothes. She grinned, knowing her sister would be furious that she had neatened anything in her room.  
  
A little while later, Jade closed the last drawer, satisfied with a job well done. But, instead of leaving, she walked around the bed to the other side and sat down by the end table. There were numerous things on Alex's end table, her lamp included, but the thing Jade wanted to look at was the ceramic picture frame. The frame was black with a silver peace symbol in both the upper left and lower right corners. The picture was one of Alex, David and Bakura.  
  
A loose smile formed on Jade's lips as she lifted the frame gently. David had given it to her sister for Christmas the year before. The picture was a recent one, taken by Jade herself. Bakura had his arms wrapped around Alex's waist, his chin resting on her shoulder. She had her arm around David's shoulders, though two of her fingers could be seen above his head. All three of them were smiling and laughing.  
  
Jade found herself staring at the picture, that smile on her lips, a sadness in her heart. She wished so much that she could have been in the photograph as well. She wanted to see a smile on Alex's face when /she/ was in the room, instead of that familiar glare. Ever since Bakura came into the picture, Alex had changed. In just four months it seemed the teen was a completely different person, except for maybe when she was around Jade.  
  
Why did she have such an aversion to Jade? Why did she have to be so mean to her? What did Jade ever do to her except try to be a good guardian? Ever since their parents had died Jade had taken care of Alex and David, bringing in the money so they could have a normal life. She had never given Alex any reason to hate her. And she could never get Alex to say /why/ she despised her so much. Anything that had to do with Jade, Alex hated. Though it might seem impossible, it seemed she loathed Rick even more than Jade. Why?  
  
The redhead felt tears well up in her eyes as she stared at the photograph. Why couldn't Alex love her like she loved David? Why couldn't she at least /like/ her? Jade pressed the frame to her chest as tears fell from her eyes, her shoulders shaking slightly in rhythm with her sobs. She let herself cry for a few minutes before she sniffed and lifted her head. She wiped her face with her sleeve and placed the picture back on the end table. She stared at the photograph... at her sister's smiling face and had to fight the tears again. She finally managed to tear her eyes away from it and cleared her throat as she stood.  
  
A pain seared through her abdomen and she cried out, stumbling backwards into the end table. She could feel something was wrong... something besides her off balance... but she couldn't make herself move. She was frozen in the position of her arms wrapped around her stomach, her eyes squeezed shut. Only when she heard something crash to the floor did she wrench her eyes open. She stared in horror at the floor, panic in her eyes as she dropped to her knees.  
  
The picture frame lay face down on the wood floor, ceramic pieces of it lying nearby. With a shaking hand, she gently turned it over, broken glass clicking as it fell away from the photograph. Jade stared at it, petrified. How would she tell Alex? She didn't even know where David got the frame. He had bought it when he was with his friend. And she wouldn't have time to get another anyway because the second Alex entered her room she would see it was missing. How could she have been so careless?  
  
Jade gathered up the glass with shaking hands, the sharp edges cutting into her palms. She got shakily to her feet and moved to the trash can, dropping the glass inside. She was oblivious to the blood running down her fingers as she turned back to the picture frame on the floor. What was she going to do with it? She'd have to get the vacuum cleaner up here now to get the remainder of the glass, but how would she tell Alex about the frame? What would she do with it? She looked at her hands and went into the bathroom, her legs feeling like they were about to collapse from under her.  
  
She made it to the bathroom sink and leaned on it. She looked up into the mirror and stared at her pale faced reflection. The one question kept shooting through her mind: How could I have done this?  
  
"Now what?" she whispered to herself. What would Alex do to her when she saw the frame? Her sister treasured that frame more than anything else she owned. The two people she loved more than anything were in that photograph... in that frame. How could Jade have broken it? Alex would go through the roof!  
  
Her mouth dry, Jade turned on the faucet. The running water sounded so distant as she rinsed her hands and arms. Her fresh cuts stung as the warm water ran over them. Her heart pounded in her ears as she watched the water become reddish and swirl down the drain. She swallowed and shut off the water, reaching for a towel. Pressing her palms against the soft towel, she dried her hands. She grabbed ace bandages from under the sink and wrapped her hands so she didn't get blood everywhere.  
  
She left the bathroom, feeling light headed from her nervousness. She saw the frame still lying on the floor and she stood there a minute, unwilling to believe it was her fault it was broken. But it was her fault and she had to face it.  
  
Jade forced her legs to move to it and she gently picked up the pieces of the ceramic frame. She sat there for a few seconds, staring at it, before she managed to stand. She made her way back down the stairs, her legs feeling like rubber. She made her way to the coffee table in the living room and set the frame down on it. Jade ignored the pain in her abdomen as she moved to the closet. She sighed as she began to bring the hand held vacuum cleaner upstairs.  
  
A half hour later, she was sitting on the couch again, staring at the frame. How would she tell Alex? What would her sister do to her? Alex would be furious! How could she have done this? How?  
  
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a/n: Jade's in trouble huh? Well, review and I'll post. ^_^ 


	3. Alex's Reaction

a/n: Okay, here's to a few of my reviewers if I can remember their names. lol  
  
Hershey_Kiss: Whew, I'm glad I didn't lose you! Your last review kind of made me worried! lol Don't worry, I'm trying very hard to update. Wanna' check out an original fiction of mine? Oh!! Hold on, I'll put that at the end of my reviewers to everyone. lol  
  
Black-Rose-Of-Death: Alex really doesn't like Jade just because she doesn't like her. She hates the fact that she's her sister, but always plays the part of her mother, telling her what to do. As you said, things in a teen's mind are complicated. lol  
  
K Yami Yugi29, Kanikameskhenet, Lily of the Shadow: I'm glad you like the fic, and I hope you stay with me! And bear with my long review answers. lol  
  
a/n: Okay!! Here we go. I put up an original fiction on fictionpress.com. I'm Greenwood Dancer there too, and my fic is Melina Hallaway. It's an action/adventure/fantasy fic. Well, anyone who wants to check it out, reviews are most certainly welcome and appreciated. ^_^  
  
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Alex was walking home from school, her coat wrapped tightly around her. The gang thought she was insane, walking home in the freezing weather, but Alex couldn't stand riding the bus. It was too cramped with too many people acting like idiots. Normally she would walk with Bakura, but his dad had picked him up to go run some errands or something.  
  
She sighed, somewhere between happy and annoyed, and bent her head against the wind. She reached home a few minutes later, extremely happy to get inside out of the cold. Alex shot up the driveway and through the front door, slamming it behind her with a violent shiver. She was reluctant to take off her coat and rubbed her arms, trying to warm herself up. Finally, after a few minutes standing by the door, she took off her coat and put it on the hook. For the first couple of seconds she felt rather cold, but she refused to hug herself, knowing that would only make her colder when she let go.  
  
She sighed and entered the living room where Jade sat with David, watching TV. When David heard Alex come in, he snapped his head around.  
  
"Alex! Hi!" he said happily, a broad smile on his face.  
  
Alex grinned, walking over to the couch. She tousled his hair as she dropped down next to him. "Hey squirt. Did you get stuck with homework?"  
  
David rolled his eyes. "Duh. And half of it's math. Is Bakura here? Can he help me?"  
  
Alex grinned and put an arm around her brother's shoulders. "If Bakura was here I wouldn't be sittin' with you."  
  
"Gross!" David cried, though he was laughing.  
  
When Bakura came over, if David had math homework, he'd usually help him. After he spent some time with Alex of course, but he had become almost a brother to David. Sometimes Jade wished that Bakura was her brother's role model instead of Alex. Alex could just be so... overwhelming sometimes.  
  
At the moment, Jade sat on the other side of David, completely unnoticed by either of them. The second Alex comes into the picture she disappears from the face of the Earth. Why did her sister insist on turning David against her? Jade sighed and turned her attention back to the TV. She still had the frame to tell Alex about. But how could she bring Alex down when she was in such a good mood? She hadn't told David either, how could she? How would she tell them that she had broken it?  
  
"I'm going to get some water, you want some, Alex?" David asked, looking at his sister with his huge, brown eyes.  
  
"Yeah, sure. Don't forget the ice!" Alex called after him as he headed into the kitchen.  
  
"Right!" he called back and disappeared into the next room.  
  
Alex put her feet up on the coffee table and reached for the TV remote, but her sister snatched it away.  
  
"I'm watching that," Jade said.  
  
Alex scowled, but did nothing more, which made Jade feel even worse. Her sister was really in a good mood if she wasn't up to arguing with her. But the second Jade told her about the frame, Alex's mood would change for the worst. The redhead fidgeted in her seat nervously, staring at the TV.  
  
"Here Alex," David said, handing his sister a glass of water over the back of the couch.  
  
"Thanks squirt," she said, taking a sip of it. She tousled his hair before standing. "I've got homework, so I'm headin' up the stairs, alright? I'll see you later."  
  
"Okay. Bye," David said. He looked over the couch to watch his sister jog up the stairs and disappear around the corner.  
  
Jade felt her heart speed up and she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for Alex's furious shriek. A few minutes later Alex came to the top of the stairs.  
  
"David, where's that picture frame you gave me? Did you move it or something?" she asked, leaning on the banister.  
  
David turned around in his seat and gave her a curious look. "Uh uh, why, can't you find it?"  
  
"No, I can't, if I could, I wouldn't be asking you where it was." She turned her attention to Jade, her eyes dark. "What about you, Jade? Did you move it?"  
  
Jade felt numb all over as she pushed a lock of her scarlet hair behind her ear. "I... I lost..." She heard thumps as Alex came down the stairs quickly. A few seconds later Jade was staring up at her, fury in her sister's eyes.  
  
"What did you do? Where is it?" Alex cried.  
  
"Alex, it was an accident, I lost my balance... and it broke... I'm sorry!" Jade said, waiting for a punch in the face.  
  
"YOU WHAT?" Alex shrieked. "What the hell were you even doing in my room?"  
  
"I was doing the laundry and I had to put your clothes away..."  
  
"How many times have I told you to stay out of my room? THIS IS WHY! Where is it?" Alex asked.  
  
"In my room..." Jade replied quietly. She watched as her sister stormed up the stairs to Jade's room.  
  
"Alex's dresser is on the other side of her bed, how did you lose your balance and knock over her frame?" David asked, looking at his sister.  
  
"I was looking at it..." Jade muttered. She suddenly felt ten years younger, losing all of her maturity in the realization she had done something bad.  
  
"That frame took almost all of my money! I wanted to get something really special for Alex and you broke it!" David cried. He got off the couch and ran up the stairs after Alex, Jade staring after him, a hurt expression on her face.  
  
She had expected him to be upset, but he had never yelled at her before. Not like that anyway. Like... he really... hated her. She hadn't known any of this, she hadn't known how much that frame had cost her brother, or how hard he had looked for something that would show his sister how much he loved her. How could she have been so clueless?  
  
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Alex sat on her sister's bed, holding the pieces of her beloved picture frame. She pieced it together and looked at the photo, half furious, half sad. She looked up as she felt weight on the bed. David had climbed up and sat cross-legged in front of her, his hands in his lap.  
  
"What right does she have to touch my things?" Alex cried, holding up a piece of the frame.  
  
"She doesn't! You told her a lot of times not to go into your room too! I paid a lot of money for that! Moki helped me find something perfect and Jade broke it!" David said, staring at it. Alex thought his eyes looked slightly misty, but she said nothing about it.  
  
"I can't even fix it," Alex said, removing the photo. "I should break something valuable of hers and see how she likes it!" She got up from the bed and put the frame in the garbage, fury in her eyes.  
  
"No, don't do that. It /was/ an accident," David said, looking up at his sister.  
  
Alex turned to him, slight confusion in her eyes as to why on Earth he would stand up for Jade. She studied him for a minute before turning away and saying, "Whatever." She left the room and headed into hers, the photograph in her hand. She slammed the door shut, the sound echoing throughout the house. Sitting down on her bed, Alex looked at the photograph, remembering the day it was taken. She had been with the only two people she cared about and even Jade's presence hadn't been able to bring her down. But of course, Jade's whole purpose on this planet was to ruin Alex's life, so naturally she would break the thing she cared about the most.  
  
With a frustrated yell she slammed the photo on her end table as she dropped back on her bed. - I HATE YOU JADE! -  
  
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a/n: There's really not much to say here, er... just review, kay? 


	4. A Day At School

a/n: Okay, this chapter is kind of funny. R&R!  
  
BEEP!! BEEP!! BEEP!!  
  
Alex shot up in bed the next morning, groping for her alarm clock. She started punching the button to shut it off and continued for a few seconds after it had already silenced. She finally hit it one last time and flopped back in bed.  
  
- One more day before the weekend... just get through today... - she told herself, pulling herself into a sitting position with a groan. - Tomorrow is Saturday, then you can sleep in. -  
  
Alex swung her legs over the side of her bed and stretched her arms above her head. She sighed and let her arms fall to her sides as she glanced at her end table. She glared at the spot where her picture frame once sat, feeling hatred for her sister pulse through her. But, she had to get ready for school and she pushed herself to her feet with a sigh. She walked over to her dresser and pulled open one of her drawers. Immediately she closed her hands into fists, glaring into the drawer.  
  
- JADE!!! - she shrieked in her head. - When I get my hands on you...! -  
  
Alex pulled out a few articles of clothing and shuffled the rest around in the drawer, making it look like it had before Jade had messed with it. She did the same to the rest of her clothes before changing quickly.  
  
A few minutes later, Alex was thundering down the stairs, hoping she woke up her sister. David was already sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. It was beyond Alex why her brother got up so early, but she didn't say anything this morning as she headed over to the counter.  
  
"Morning, Alex," David greeted her.  
  
She grunted in return as she pulled the cabinet above the counter open. She shuffled a few things around, groping for a specific box. Her hand landed on one and she felt it for a few seconds before reaching inside it and pulling out a small packet.  
  
David thought he heard her mutter, "Bingo," as she closed the cabinet and opened the packet to reveal two toaster strudels. She waved absently to her brother as she left the kitchen, biting into one of the strudels.  
  
On her way to the front door, Alex grabbed her backpack off the floor by the stairs and swung it over her shoulder. She pulled the front door open, but stopped before she stepped outside. On the step was a single, red rose. Transferring her breakfast to the other hand, she reached down and picked up the flower. There was no note, but she knew who it was from. She furrowed her brow as she stared at it, wondering /why/ he had left it there.  
  
- Okay... - she thought, heading back into the kitchen for a vase.  
  
"Um, hello again," David said, slightly confused as he watched his sister shuffle around in more cabinets.  
  
Alex checked her watch and groaned. She closed the cabinet she was searching through and turned to David. "Hey squirt, can you put this in a vase for me?" she said, putting the rose on the table in front of him.  
  
"Sure," he said, smiling.   
  
Alex tousled his hair on her way back to the door. She ran out and closed the door behind her, downing the rest of her breakfast. She crumpled the paper and shoved it in her pocket as she took off down the road.  
  
She made it to the school just before the bell rang and skidded into English right on time. Breathing heavily, she dropped into her seat by Bakura. She sighed and dropped her backpack to the floor, ignoring the look the teacher gave her. Alex grinned at Bakura, who smiled back brightly.  
  
As the teacher began to read role call, Alex folded her arms on her desk and rested her chin on them, closing her eyes. A little while later Bakura would be poking her in order to wake her up so she didn't get in trouble when the teacher walked by.  
  
Alex was at her locker, shoving books in and pulling others out. She was trying to pull out her science notebook, but it wouldn't come out. Growling at it, she attempted to jerk it out. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand touch her shoulder.  
  
"Oh my God!" she said, snapping her head around to see Bakura. He just grinned and pushed a few books out of the way in her locker, freeing the science notebook. "...Oh..." Alex said, laughing.  
  
Bakura laughed and they started to the cafeteria. They were about halfway there when Alex remembered what she had wanted to say to him next she saw him.  
  
"Hey," she said, elbowing him lightly. "Did you leave that rose on my doorstep?" He smiled and nodded. "Why?" she asked.  
  
Bakura blinked at her for a second. "Um... tomorrow..." he said, feeling slight color work it's way into his cheeks.  
  
"What about it?" she asked, pushing the cafeteria doors open.  
  
- What about it? - Bakura thought in confusion as he followed her through the doors. "Do you know what tomorrow is?" he asked, returning to her side.  
  
"Saturday?" she offered.  
  
Bakura hit his forehead with the palm of his hand and stopped. Keeping his hand there, he asked her, "What month is it?"  
  
"February. Why?" she asked, staring at him.  
  
"Good. What day is it today?"  
  
"Uh... Friday?" she said, raising her eyebrows.  
  
Bakura groaned and dropped his hand to his side. He turned to look at her, his face rather red. "I mean the /date/."  
  
"How should I know? Jade is the calendar freak. I'm lucky I know the weekend when it shows up," Alex replied, shrugging. "I take it you know the date, so... why don't you just tell me?"  
  
"Today is the thirteenth," he said, feeling himself blush harder. "Tomorrow would be the fourteenth."  
  
"Fourteen usually comes after thirteen, genius," she said, continuing to the table where the rest of the gang sat.  
  
Bakura smacked his forehead again before jogging to meet her. "Use your head Alex, what is the fourteenth of February?" he hissed in her ear.  
  
"Saturday? What do we have a date I'm missing or something?" she asked, looking at him quizzically.  
  
"I don't believe this," he said, straightening. "You don't know what day Valentine's falls on?"  
  
"/That's/ what this is about? Of course I don't know that! I've never celebrated it! If you asked Jade, she'd give you..." Alex started, but Bakura cut her off.  
  
"I'm not asking Jade!" he said, taking hold of her shoulders. "I wanted to know if you'd come over to my house for dinner tomorrow." As he stared at her, he felt himself go a violent shade of red.  
  
"Well geez, why didn't you say so in the first place? Sure," she said, grinning. - I have a date for Valentine's? Jade will be on the phone with the press the second I walk through the door. -  
  
"Okay. Um... good..." Bakura said, letting go of her and turning away, attempting to hide his blush. She wasn't exactly the easiest person to date.  
  
Alex grinned at his embarrassment. "You really thought I didn't know what day Valentine's was?" she said, laughing.  
  
Bakura spun around to her, his eyes wide. "What?" he cried. He grabbed her and for a few seconds they wrestled with each other. They had gotten used to people turning around in their seats to watch them, which was probably a good thing at this moment.  
  
When they had calmed down, Bakura's arm was draped around her shoulders as they walked to where their friends sat. In the four months since they had begun to go out, Alex had managed to become friends with the gang, even if Tea did annoy her. But Alex thought Yugi and Joey were pretty cool and actually enjoyed spending time with them. This was the first time she had ever had an actual group of friends and she was glad.  
  
"What was that all about?" Tea asked when the couple sat down.  
  
Alex grinned, but before she could say anything, Bakura clapped a hand over her mouth. She pried at it, but he didn't let go, instead turning to the gang.  
  
"She just played a trick on me, that's all," he said, blushing as Alex laughed, managing to push him away.  
  
"It was hilarious!" she laughed, leaning her elbows on the table.  
  
Bakura frowned at her. "No it wasn't," he said, though he was fighting not to laugh as well.  
  
"What was the trick?" Joey asked.  
  
"Well -" Alex started, but Bakura covered her mouth again. She pushed him away and grinned. "Aww, don't you want them to know?"  
  
"No, not particularly," he said, blushing.  
  
She laughed and leaned an elbow on his shoulder. "Okay, fine," she said, grinning at him.  
  
Bakura pushed her off his shoulder and grinned back. "Thank you."  
  
"Aw, hey! Come on, tell us!" Joey urged.  
  
"Yeah, that's not fair!" Tristan agreed.  
  
Bakura slipped his arm around Alex and grinned. "It's a good thing she's on my side, or I'd be in trouble," he laughed.  
  
"You better believe it," she said, jabbing him in the side with her finger. She grinned as he jumped and grabbed her hand. "Oooh, are you ticklish?"  
  
"No..." he said, removing his arm from her shoulders and trying to keep her away.  
  
"Yeah, right," she said, grinning. But, she stopped and leaned her arms on the table. "I'll get you tomorrow," she said, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.  
  
"I can't wait," Bakura said dryly, a pink tint in his cheeks.  
  
"So you're doing something for Valentine's Day then?" Tea asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'm going over to his place for dinner. God help me," she said, looking up to the ceiling briefly.  
  
"Hey! You've never eaten anything I've made. I could be a gourmet chef for all you know," Bakura said indignantly. He frowned when the table burst into laughter.  
  
"You?" Joey wheezed.  
  
"All right, it wasn't that funny," Bakura said, poking Alex in the arm.  
  
"Wanna' bet?" she asked, grinning at him. Her face was red from laughing so hard, but she didn't seem to notice.  
  
He gave her a look before turning to the rest of the gang. "So are any of you going to do anything?"  
  
"With who?" Tea asked. "I don't have a boyfriend and none of them have girlfriends."  
  
"That doesn't matter. Hey Joey, you should give that girl you like... uh... Mya... a call," Alex said, making the table burst into laughter again.  
  
"What? I don't like Mai! Where did you get that idea?" Joey cried.  
  
"Uh... yeah..." Alex said, raising her eyebrow at him. "Or you and Serenity," she offered to Tristan.  
  
"What?" Joey exclaimed, turning in his seat and grabbing Tristan's shirt. "You keep away from my sister!"  
  
"Okay, we have issues to work out," Alex said, both of her eyebrows running into her bangs now. Bakura didn't say anything; he was too busy trying not to laugh. Alex caught sight of Tea and Yugi nearly falling over in silent laughter and she grinned. "And Tea and Yugi could do something."  
  
Both of them instantly shut up, a blush flooding into Yugi's face. Bakura couldn't hold it in any longer and he cracked up, leaning his forehead against the table.  
  
"So, I've just set you all up. I didn't know I was a matchmaker," Alex said, grinning as she rested her chin in her hand.  
  
"No! I'm not goin' anywhere with Mai and he's not laying a hand on my sister!" Joey cried, pointing at Tristan, who was straightening his shirt.  
  
"And Tea and I are just friends, we couldn't go out..." Yugi said, fighting the blush unsuccessfully.  
  
"Okay, suit yourselves. Hey Bakura, you better stop laughing before you die from lack of oxygen," Alex said, prodding him in the shoulder.  
  
He sat up, his face red from laughing so hard and put a hand over his mouth. He took a deep breath and managed to calm down. "Um... we'd better get to class..." he said to Alex, who nodded.  
  
"Yeah before you make fools of all of us," she said, standing.  
  
"See you later," Bakura said, waving slightly to the gang, still fighting laughter.  
  
Alex waved at them as well before grabbing her boyfriend's shirt and pulling him with her.  
  
a/n: lol The next chapter will be Valentine's Day. Review! 


	5. Valentine's Day

a/n: Oh my god I am so sorry I haven't posted. I'm so busy lately and I have been uninspired for this chapter. I promise I'll try to be better. I'm currently transforming a few of my fics into original ones to publish and I am currently writing seven pieces right now. Not including my Yu-Gi-Oh works. I'm also in my local play, which is going to take up a lot of my time until November. And now I'm swimming every Tuesday. So, I've been busy. Sorry.

"Ow!" Bakura dropped the knife onto the counter and brought his finger to his lips. He glared at the potato he was peeling and hit it lightly out of frustration with his other hand.

"Son, peel away from you. You'll cut up your hands you keep up the way you're doing it," his father said, looking over Bakura's shoulder at the potato. He chuckled at the way his son was glaring at it.

"You have an easy job, you're just washing them," Bakura said, wiping his hand on his jeans before picking up the potato again.

"Hey, it's_ your_ girlfriend," Mr. Ryou said, going back to taking the eyes out of his potato.

Bakura shrugged, but couldn't keep a grin off his face. As he went back to peeling, a terrible smell reached his nose, slight at first, but it quickly got stronger. He stopped and looked at his father, sniffing the air. "Dad, what's that?"

Mr. Ryou took a moment to sniff as well before snapping his head towards the oven. Thin trails of smoke were seeping out of the door. "Crap!" he cried, grabbing potholders and rushing over to it. He shut the oven off and pulled open the door, coughing as smoke engulfed him.

Bakura watched in horror as his father waved the smoke away, coughing as it entered his lungs. He turned around slowly, holding a pan with what used to be a chicken lying in it. The bird had been reduced to a blackened frazzle, completely inedible. Bakura's eyes widened in panic as he stared at it; now what was he going to do?

"Well," Mr. Ryou said, putting the pan on the potholder that was sitting on the counter. He sighed as he looked at the pathetic bird before turning to his son, his mouth open to say more. But at Bakura's horrified face, he decided against taunting him.

"Now what?" Bakura moaned, leaning against the counter and putting his forehead in his hand. "There's not enough time to do anything else." _How am I going to give Alex a good Valentine's Day dinner _now?

"It's time for plan B," Mr. Ryou said after a few seconds. He picked up the pan and walked over to the trash can, dumping what was left of the chicken inside.

Bakura looked up, confused. "We have a plan B?"

"There's always a plan B," his father replied, heading out of the kitchen as he dusted his hands on his faded jeans.

Bakura stared after him for a second. "...Oh... um... where are you going?"

"Get your coat, we're going to the store!" his father called.

The teen raised his eyebrows, but obeyed, running out of the kitchen into the front hall. _We're going to buy dinner?_ he thought, things starting to come together. He wasn't quite sure how this would work, but as long it did, he didn't really care. He grabbed his coat off the hook and followed his dad out to the car.

"The store?" he asked, getting in the passenger side.

"You bet. Don't worry son, I did this back in college. Alex will never know the difference," Mr. Ryou said, starting the engine.

"Okay..." Bakura said, rather unsure, but willing to try it. He stared out the window as they drove down the street.

Mr. Ryou glanced over at his son and grinned. "Bit nervous?"

Bakura blushed and scratched his head. "A little," he said with a nervous laugh.

"Don't worry about it. You've already got everything planned; nothing can go wrong," his father assured him.

_Oh, I'm sure something could figure out how to go wrong, _he thought distastefully. Pushing that out of his head, he tried to think of Alex's reaction when she saw what he had planned. Either surprised and speechless (which he seriously doubted. He had never known Alex to be speechless), or... well... he didn't really know what her reaction would be. Which made him just that more nervous. He hoped against hope that she'd like it.

About an hour later, they were back at the house, reading directions on the back of packages. Bakura checked his watch reluctantly. He did a double take as his eyes focused on the face.

"Oh my god! Alex will be here in an hour!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening as he spun around Mr. Ryou.

"Whoa, calm down!" his dad said, taking hold of Bakura's shoulders. "We'll get it done. Don't worry! Come on let's get this into the oven."

Bakura nodded, though the movement was slightly jerky with nervousness. He took the chicken from his father and moved towards the oven. He paused a moment to look at his hands, which were shaking violently. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and set the pan with the chicken in it on the stove so he could open the oven. Hot air escaped, burning Bakura's face. He cried out as he stood up and stumbled backwards slightly, his eyes squeezed shut.

"You all right?" Mr. Ryou asked, spinning around and grabbing his son's shoulder.

"Yeah," Bakura coughed, wiping the condensation off his nose.

After giving his father a sheepish grin, he went back to the oven. Keeping to one side of the open door, he lifted the pan and slid it into the oven, removing his hands quickly. Satisfied that he had managed to do that without burning his hands off, he closed the oven and picked up the directions for the chicken. His eyes skimmed the words until he found the heating suggestions. Tossing the directions aside, he turned a few of the dials on the front of the stove, adjusting the temperature inside the oven. He folded his arms and gave a triumphant grin before turning to his father.

"So now what?" he asked, watching Mr. Ryou pour instant mashed potatoes into a pot.

"Ummm…" Mr. Ryou said, concentrating on how much he was pouring. "Go get the margarine."

Bakura nodded and stepped around his father to the refrigerator. He frowned as he opened the door. "Dad, have you cleaned up the fridge again?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I hate it when you do that. I can never find anything!" Bakura said, moving a container of milk aside as he looked for the margarine. He found it a few minutes later on the bottom shelf behind containers of cottage cheese and yogurt. With a sigh, he stood up and put it on the counter next to his father.

"Ah, thanks," Mr. Ryou said, stepping back to pull open a drawer. He pulled out a spoon and stepped up to the counter again, pushing the drawer closed as he did. After a second of trying to gather his thoughts and figure out what he was doing next, he set the spoon down on top of the margarine, picked up the pot with the mashed potatoes, and put it on one of the front burners of the stove. He turned a dial and a few minutes later, the burner had begun to glow red.

"You see those packets of gravy over there?" Mr. Ryou asked, pointing to the counter. As Bakura nodded, his father opened a cabinet beneath the counter and began digging around. "I want you to open them up, follow the directions and put enough water in, and put it on the stove," he said, his voice slightly muffled because of his head being in the cabinet.

"Okay," Bakura said. He was about to ask what he should put it in when Mr. Ryou pulled himself off the floor holding a pot. He handed it to Bakura, who set to work on the gravy.

Forty-five minutes later, they were pulling the chicken from the oven, covering the mashed potatoes, reheating the corn, buttering the broccoli, and slicing (or chopping in Bakura's case) the cranberry sauce. Both were starting to feel the crunch of time with Alex due in fifteen minutes. If Mr. Ryou hadn't been there to calm him down, Bakura might have hyperventilated.

"Calm down, it'll be done!" his father cried, taking hold of Bakura's shoulders. He shook him gently before going back to the chicken. Mr. Ryou turned the store-bought pan upside down into a new pan and started waving it around the room.

Bakura stared at his father with blank eyes. "Dad, what are you doing?"

"Getting the smell throughout the room! Make it seem like it's been cooking all day. Come on, do the same thing with the gravy!" Mr. Ryou said, spinning in circles. He looked as though he was doing some sort of strange waltz.

With a shrug, Bakura picked up the pot of gravy and started swirling it around the room as well. Almost instantly, he began to blush, feeling very strange and silly. He glanced at his father and couldn't help but grin as Mr. Ryou had now _really _begun to dance with the chicken. He held it in front of his chest and was actually waltzing with it. Bakura's grin only lasted a few seconds, though, because then his eyes rested on the wall clock and he nearly dropped the gravy.

"Dad! Stop playing! Alex will be here in ten minutes!" he cried, skidding around the kitchen trying to find a place to put the gravy.

"Yikes! My, how time flies when you're having fun!" Mr. Ryou said, placing the pan down on the counter and taking a whiff of the air. He seemed satisfied and proceeded to pouring the other foods into bowls while Bakura stuck serving spoons in them. They then quickly moved the bowls into the living room, where they tried desperately to fit them all on the coffee table. Between trips to the kitchen, Bakura had his eyes glued to his watch.

Pretty soon, Mr. Ryou sent his son upstairs to change and Bakura nearly fell up the steps in his hurry. He had never been so glad for his habit of picking his outfit the night before as he was right now. He quickly slipped his shirt off and threw on his white button down. He hopped around for a few seconds as he tried to pull on a new pair of jeans before finally falling over, creating a loud _thud._

"Bakura? You okay?" his father called up the stairs.

"Fine… I'm fine!" Bakura replied, struggling to his feet with difficulty. He began to appreciate when Alex had been stuck in her shirt at the mall. Remembering her loud crash from inside the dressing room and the purple sweater flying over the top of the door and landing in his arms made him chuckle. Life was never dull when Alex was around.

Alex!

With one hand, he pulled his jeans on as he checked his watch again. She would be arriving any minute and she was rarely late. He finished dressing and bolted to the door, but then hopped back to his mirror to quickly flatten his hair. Satisfied that he looked halfway decent, he flung his door open and flew down the stairs as the doorbell rang. He felt as though his heart had stopped.

"Bakura!" his dad called from the kitchen. When he turned, Mr. Ryou tossed a cigarette lighter to him. Bakura quickly ran to the coffee table and lit the candles as his dad turned out the main lights. The cigarette lighter was tossed back to Mr. Ryou as the doorbell rang again.

"I'm coming Alex! Patience is a virtue!" Bakura called as he spun in a circle, wondering if he'd forgotten anything. He spotted the rose sitting in the vase by the stairs and quickly grabbed it. He took a deep breath as he started to the door when his father hissed at him. Mr. Ryou made a motion at his collar and Bakura hurriedly unbuttoned the top two of his shirt. His father gave the "OK" sign and disappeared out the back door with a wave.

Alex was in the middle of ringing the doorbell again when Bakura opened the door, his heart pounding like a jackhammer. He looked her up and down and couldn't help but blush scarlet. Her black and white streaked hair hung loose around her face, her bangs falling down to her eyebrows. She wore a black, leather jacket over a black top with fishnet around the collar. Her baggy, black pants had silver chains hanging from various loops and pins and there were more pockets than he had imagined they could fit on one pair of pants. On her feet were her usual high-top combat boots, her favorite shoes. She made up for her all black attire with a red choker with silver studs and ruby red lipstick. She had even gone lighter on her eyeliner than usual, Bakura noticed. Maybe it was the special holiday, maybe it was just his imagination, but he thought she was stunning.

"It's about time!" she said, shifting her weight to her right leg. She folded her arms across her chest as she stared at Bakura. "What?" she asked when she noticed the half grin on his face as he looked at her.

He shook his head, the soft smile never wavering. "Nothing," he said, opening the door wider. The odd look she gave him as she walked past him into the house only made him smile more. He handed her the rose, brilliantly red. Her eyes widened slightly as she took it, surprised at his gesture. He felt his face redden as Alex noticed what he was wearing. She scanned him silently in surprise. She had never seen him wear his shirt unbuttoned even partway, but as her eyes rested on the bit of his chest peeking out from his collar, she had to admit she liked it.

Bakura felt like he was being put through a lie detector test with all of Alex's staring. He didn't really look _that _different, did he? Was her staring good? He relaxed when the corners of Alex's lips twitched upwards as her eyes made their way back to his face. She took a step closer to him and took part of his collar loosely in her fingers, sending a tingle throughout his body.

"This is new," she said, grinning up at him. As she looked up at him, she really did feel short. Bakura was nearly five inches taller than her and when she stood so close to him, she really had to tilt her head back to look him in the eye.

Bakura grinned. "Do you like it?" he asked, stepping so close to her their bodies were pressed against each other. His hands found her hips and slowly encircled her waist, holding her loosely.

"Maybe," Alex replied, smirking. Her fingers closed around his collar and she pulled him down to her. As their lips met his hold on her tightened, his hand rubbing her back gently. They held the kiss for a few seconds before Alex pulled away, just far enough to where their lips weren't touching. "You said you were making me dinner."

Bakura chuckled. Alex wasn't one to beat around the bush. But, as they pulled away, he began to feel butterflies in his stomach again. What if she recognized the flavor and she knew he didn't cook the food? Would she say anything?

As she turned around to observe the food, slipping off her jacket, Bakura felt there was something missing. It hit him a second later like a ton of bricks and he stumbled to the shelf by the stairs, grabbing a small remote from it. His heart thumped as he prayed his father remembered to put in the CD. He held his breath as he pressed 'play.' There was silence for a second and Bakura thought he might have a heart attack. But then a soft melody began to play and he breathed again. He slid the remote back onto the shelf and went over to Alex, who had already seated herself on the couch. Her jacket lay on the arm of the couch, the rose on top of it, and Bakura noticed the fishnet around her collar extended down her arms as well.

"You did all this?" she asked, glancing at him as he sat down beside her.

"Yeah." _She believes it! Thank god for dad!_ Bakura thought, never being so relieved to have his father.

"Hmm. Well, it looks good," she said, leaning over the chicken. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before sitting up again. "Smells good too. So, is it just here for decoration or are we going to eat?"

Bakura laughed softly, picking up one of the plates his father had stacked neatly on one end of the coffee table. He spooned a little of everything onto her plate and she didn't protest to anything, so he felt he was on the right track so far. At least she wasn't saying she was allergic to basil or something. He handed her plate to her along with a fork and she took it and set it on her lap. As he took food for himself, Alex started eating. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her expression, praying he hadn't messed something up. He felt incredibly relieved when Alex nodded approvingly and said, "Not bad."

_Dad, you're wonderful!_ he thought. He made a mental note to get his father something for all his help. He took the bottle of Apple Cider from the floor by the table and poured Alex and himself some in Mr. Ryou's wine glasses. As Alex raised her eyebrow at him as she took her glass, Bakura said smoothly, "I'd have gotten wine but my father would have killed me."

Alex laughed, touching her glass to his, a soft _clink _emitting. They both took a sip of the cider, Bakura watching her over the rim of his glass. She put hers down on the table and went back to her food with a glance at Bakura.

"You should have seen the look on Jade's face when I told her where I was going tonight," she said.

"Oh? Was she surprised then?" he asked, grinning. He briefly imagined Alex's older sister dropping her drink all over as the news of where Alex was going reached her ears. He bit his tongue quickly to keep from laughing and concentrated on the real story.

"Surprised isn't the half of it!" Alex laughed. She turned in her seat to look at him. "I came home from school and she immediately announced that she wouldn't be there tonight, tomorrow if we're talking yesterday, because she was, is, going out with Rick. And I told her, 'Yeah, well, I won't be here either.' She looked at me like she'd never seen anything like me before in her life. I think she was trying not to laugh." Alex paused a moment to frown. "Anyway, she said something like, 'Oh really? Where are you going?' So, I told her. You should have seen the way her eyes bugged out. She couldn't believe I was coming over here and spending the night _alone _with you, god forbid. She probably thinks I'll come home pregnant!" she laughed. Bakura chuckled, but at the same time, color was working its way into his cheeks. He glanced at Alex and couldn't honestly tell himself the thoughts hadn't crossed his mind. He forced new ones out of his head as he took a sip of his cider.

Alex looked at him, his cheeks scarlet, and laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry, have I embarrassed you?" Bakura choked on his drink.

"N-no… I…" he stammered, trying to clear his throat at the same time.

Alex grinned and leaned her elbow on his shoulder. "What, does the thought appeal to you?" she cooed, struggling not to laugh again.

"No! I… I mean… yes… n-no… I…" Color shot into his cheeks and he pressed his hand against his face in an attempt to disappear. He felt Alex's arm wrap around his neck, her hand gently caressing his shoulder. Then her chin was rested on his other shoulder and he could feel her warm breath on his face. He slowly moved his hand away from his face and looked at her. He thought he might finally have gotten the blush to fade when Alex leaned up and put her lips next to his ear.

"The thought appeals to me too," she murmured. Bakura's face went the shade of a beet as Alex moved away from him, patting him once on the back. "But don't run away with any ideas," she said, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "Not yet anyway."

Bakura thought he'd be blushing for the rest of the night, the rest of the week even! He busied himself with the last of his food, thinking about what Alex had just said. He had been wondering whether those thoughts had crossed her mind, not that he was planning on doing anything about them anytime soon. But at least they were on the same page. He had never really considered it _really,_ never truly thought about how long he'd have to be with a girl before things got intimate. Had Alex thought about it? How long did she want to wait? What if she was ready before him? Would he be able to refuse her?

He stole a glance at her, taking a sip of her cider. She set her glass back down on the table and searched for a spot to place her empty plate. Bakura chuckled and took it from her.

"I'll get it," he said, standing. He brought both of their plates into the kitchen and was pleased to find the smell of the chicken remained in the air. His father's tactic had worked.

He put the plates in the sink and turned around to lean on the counter. With a deep breath, he ran his hands through his hair to make sure it was still flat. He pressed his fingers to his cheek and was unnerved to find it still warm. Praying that Alex wouldn't see in the dark living room, he shook his hands and went back through the doorway.

When he sat down next to her again, he casually placed his arms along the back of the couch behind her. Alex was fiddling with her bracelet and didn't notice. After watching her play with the clasp for a few minutes, Bakura called her on it.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Huh?" She looked up at him as though only realizing he was there. "Oh, nothing. The thing is coming loose. I really have to get it fixed," she said, indicating her bracelet. Her little brother had given it to her for her birthday last October and she hadn't taken it off since. The small, silver charm had a peace symbol engraved in it.

"Oh," Bakura said. After a short silence, he slowly moved his arm onto her shoulders. He fought a blush as she looked at him.

"You getting all mushy on me now?" she asked. In the candlelight, he thought he saw the corners of her lips twitch, but he wasn't sure. Before he could answer, she folded her legs underneath her and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I suppose I can deal with it for one night," she said, looking up at him with a grin.

Bakura smiled, moving his arm around her tighter. He ran his fingers along her shoulder lightly, playing with her hair every now and then. His heart soared as she closed her eyes and rubbed her head against him almost cat-like. Her hand slid up his chest to his collar, sending a delicious shiver through his body. He placed his other hand on hers, their fingers playing with each other's as he watched her lie against him. As he sat there with his arm around her, caressing her gently, he thought about her first reaction to him when he had first met her. She was so cold and mean, but now she was almost peaceful. _Almost._

He smiled softly and moved his hand from hers, moving a lock of hair from her face. She opened her eyes slowly and blinked at him. He continued to run his fingers through her hair, all the while gazing down at her.

"What?" she asked.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered, tracing her cheek with his fingers.

Alex laughed softly and Bakura almost thought she looked a bit uncomfortable. "I've been called a lot of things, but beautiful has never been one of them," she said.

"They're all blind," he murmured.

He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers gently. Now he was sure she was nervous. Her experience with actual romance was about zero, it was a wonder she hadn't completely lost it by now. He kissed her tenderly, slowly, as he adjusted his arm around her shoulders. He could almost hear her mind trying to figure out what she should do now. Slowly, her hand moved across his chest to his shoulder, rubbing his neck gently. He tightened his arm around her, his other hand caressing her waist. Soon, Alex began to relax, letting Bakura direct her completely for the first time.

He edged her backwards slightly, trying to ascertain how comfortable she was. She surprised him by continuing the momentum, more pulling him down on top of her than him pushing her. Her arms wrapped slowly around his neck, rubbing his shoulders and back, as he ran his hand over her side and waist, playing with the bottom of her shirt. As his hand felt the bare skin of Alex's side, he realized his hormones were starting to take over. He liked the feeling he was getting from just this much, how would he feel if he went farther? Would Alex deck him if he tried? He honestly wasn't sure. She had never succumbed so completely to him; she trusted him. After four months, she finally trusted him. He wasn't about to risk that, no matter how much he was tempted to. And he slowly slid his hand back to the outside of her shirt.

He didn't know just how long they had lay there kissing. It was late at night when Bakura realized Alex had fallen asleep on his chest, her hand resting over his heart. On the small space of the sofa, she was practically on top of him, but he didn't care. He kissed her forehead, running his hand through her hair softly, before leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

Mr. Ryou came home at around one when Bakura didn't call like he said he would when Alex left. He had slight problems finding the house key in the dark, the porch light switch being on the inside. Mr. Ryou had always thought that was such a dumb idea and had considered trying to put a switch on the outside, but his son had practically dragged him across the house and pleaded with him not to try. Bakura had some strange idea in his head that his father couldn't fix everything.

Mr. Ryou finally found the key and unlocked the door. He swung it open to find the living room just as dark as the porch. Slightly confused, he closed the door and flipped on the light. His eyes widened in surprise to see Alex and Bakura asleep on the couch together, their arms around each other. Mr. Ryou smiled softly before turning the light out again. He went upstairs silently, skipping over the step that creaked. When he got to his room, he closed the door and turned on the light, heading for the phone that sat on the little table by his bed. He picked up the receiver and dialed Alex's number knowing Jade would be up worried sick about her sister.

Mr. Ryou knew the Moores' number because Bakura had had it taped to the refrigerator for a while to help him remember it. The phone rang only once before Jade picked up.

"Jade? This is Mr. Ryou," he said, instantly feeling sorry for her. She sounded as though she had been pacing and wringing her hands all night.

"Oh!" she cried. "Where's Alex? Is she all right?"

Mr. Ryou chuckled. "She's fine. She and Bakura are asleep on the couch."

"What?" Jade asked, sounding more like a mother every second. "She… they…"

"Whoa… not a chance! Not my son!" Mr. Ryou assured with a laugh.

Jade breathed in relief. "Okay. Thank god. Thank you for calling. Alex just has a certain reputation for disappearing and when no one answered the phone there, I assumed the worst. I should probably call the police back; I just called them, scared out of my mind," she said, laughing sheepishly.

"Yes, that's probably a good idea. Good night, Jade."

"Good night. And thanks again."

"Not a problem."

Mr. Ryou hung up and lay back on his bed. He was tired himself and didn't even have the strength to change. He fell asleep within a few minutes, the sweet image of his son and his girlfriend curled up together on the couch. He hadn't seen Bakura so happy in a long time.

a/n: Wow, long chapter. lol I'll try to get the next ones up soon, but I'm not going to guarantee anything. Please bear with me; I'm getting very busy. As always, review!


	6. Enter Elsie

a/n: Okay, this is where things start happening.

0000000000000

**MONDAY:**

Alex was being shaken awake violently. As she came slowly into consciousness, she became vaguely aware of someone saying her name repeatedly. She moaned and tried to roll over, but she was still being shaken and yelled at.

"_Alex!_" The voice belonged to David.

She rolled over quickly, surprising her brother. "What?" she cried, blinking at him angrily.

David jumped slightly at her harsh tone. "Um, you're going to be late for school," he said, backing away from the bed.

"What? What time is it?" Alex cried suddenly, shooting up from the bed and grabbing her alarm clock. 7:32 a.m. it blinked. "_Shit!_" she screeched, throwing the clock back to the end table. She rounded on David. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" She didn't wait for an answer as she ushered him out the room, closing the door behind him.

Alex ran to her dresser and nearly pulled it over trying to get the drawer open. She dug around in it for a shirt, for the first time wishing she wore something other than black so she could tell the clothing apart. Finally, she managed to separate a long sleeved shirt with silver lettering on the front. She wasn't exactly sure what it said, but she knew she wouldn't have anything in her drawer that she didn't like, so she threw it onto the bed. The drawer was slammed shut as she pulled the one below it open. No, those were skirts that she never wore. With a sigh, she slammed the drawer and bolted to her closet. The door stuck. Alex screeched in frustration as she twisted and turned the doorknob, trying to open it.

"What the _hell?"_ she shrieked. Why was it that every time you were in a hurry nearly everything went wrong? She jiggled the doorknob, then shook it, then rammed it violently back and forth. Naturally, it broke off in her hands. "_Shit!_"

As she ran back to her bed, she threw the doorknob across the room. Cursing everything under the sun, she dropped to the floor and threw the covers up. She shoved her hand under the bed and felt around, her fingers touching numerous articles of clothing she hadn't gotten around to putting in the laundry yet. Normally she would just leave the clothes around her room, but when Bakura came over, she felt the need to shove everything out of sight.

He had walked her home yesterday after she had accidentally spent the night at his house. Jade wasn't home; she was probably doing something with her best friend, Carly. David immediately went upstairs to his room and stayed there at a signal from Alex. She had run upstairs ahead of Bakura and quickly ran around her room and shoved everything under her bed and had flopped down on it casually just as he came through the door.

But Alex was pulling everything back out again as she looked for something to wear. Her hands gripped a pair of black jeans that had faded in parts to a dull gray. Satisfied with what she had grabbed, she struggled to her feet and slipped out of her pajamas, which consisted of a pair of boxers and an old tee shirt. She hopped into the jeans, the material loose around her legs. One of the knees had a large rip in it and the hems around her feet were frayed. After she pulled on her shirt and shoved her feet into socks and her boots, she darted quickly to her door and ran out into the hall.

David was just coming out of his room when Alex rushed past. "Bye Alex," he called, to which he received a wave from his sister. He smiled as she slid down the banister, something she had been doing ever since she met Bakura. She had developed a lot of little habits in the four months she'd had a boyfriend. David couldn't remember any time before Alex's seventeenth birthday when she'd sing in the shower. Or attempt to anyway.

Alex didn't bother to grab breakfast; instead, she raced to the front door, grabbing her leather jacket from the hook. She slid her arms into it and picked up her backpack from the floor.

"See ya' David!" she yelled as she pulled the door open.

"Bye!" her brother called back. He wasn't sure if she heard him or not, though, because a second later there door shut.

Alex checked her watch as she descended the front steps and ran down the driveway. With a sigh, she hitched her backpack onto her shoulder and took off down the street. She made it to the corner in half the time it normally did and as she rounded it, she saw someone walking along the side of the street in the distance. With a grin, she pushed herself to run even faster.

"Bakura!" she called as she neared him. Her backpack was threatening to fall off her arm and she finally let it slip down into her hand, bouncing it along the ground as she ran.

Bakura stopped and turned around, grinning at her as she barreled towards him. "Whoa…!" he exclaimed as Alex crashed into him, knocking the wind from his chest. He heard her laughing as she wrapped her arm around his waist. He rested his arm on her shoulders and grinned at her. "You sure know how to take a guy's breath away," he said, inhaling slowly.

Alex laughed and brought her backpack back up to her shoulder. She too was out of breath from running down the block and it took her a second to get her own wind back.

"Got up late again?" he asked, looking at her.

"Yeah. David was shaking me so hard I thought the house had caught fire," she replied. Bakura laughed and tightened his arm around her shoulders, tousling her hair. "Hey!" Alex cried, trying to shove his hand away. When he stopped, she pulled away from him and pretended she was looking in a mirror, running her hand through her hair.

"Now look what you've done. You've, like, messed up my hair!" she said, putting on a scarily good valley girl accent. She dropped the hand with the 'mirror' to her side and turned to Bakura. "Do you know how long it, like, took me to get it perfect?"

Bakura burst into laughter along with Alex. She moved back to him and they wrapped their arms around each other as they continued to the school, still chuckling. Alex did the funniest impressions of the school preps. Sometimes it was easy to tell which one she was making fun of, others it was just hilarious to watch her twirl her hair idly and giggle ridiculously. She had a different theme for every prep and the gang loved to try to guess who she was acting like.

They reached the school a few minutes later and entered the crowd of students that were filing in. At the top of the steps, Yugi, Tea, Tristan, and Joey were waiting for them. The gang waved and Bakura greeted them when he reached them.

"Heya', love birds," Tristan said, commenting on the way Bakura had his arm around Alex.

They walked into school together and the gang bombarded the couple with questions about Valentine's Day.

"How did it go?" Yugi.

"Was what Bakura cooked edible?" Joey.

"Did you make out?" Tristan.

"Was it really romantic? I'll bet it was, wasn't it?" Tea.

Bakura blushed, but Alex grinned evilly. "Well, it went great. I wound up spending the night," she said. Everyone's jaw dropped.

"You _what?_" they cried in unison, spinning around to stare at Alex with her grin and Bakura, who's face was imitating the color of a beet. Both laughed at their friends' faces.

"What Alex _means_ is…" Bakura started, trying to get his face to drain of color.

"Is that I had a great time," Alex finished. She had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing at the Tea and Yugi's paling faces.

"You don't mean to tell me you…?" Tea said, looking between Bakura and Alex with huge eyes.

"No_ Alex,_" Bakura said, giving his girlfriend a look. She started laughing as he began to explain what had actually happened. "We fell asleep, that's all. So you can all breathe normally again."

"What happened? You chicken out?" Joey asked. Tea elbowed him in the ribs as everyone laughed.

"No, we used our heads. I mean our brains," Bakura corrected quickly as Tristan and Joey's eyes widened and a broad grin spread across their faces. Alex was now leaning on Bakura to keep herself on her feet, she was laughing so hard. "We were smart about it, okay?" Bakura said, blushing violently.

Even Tea was laughing now. Just before the gang split up to go to their lockers, Bakura made them all promise to keep this to themselves so as not to get the wrong message spread across the school. Yugi and Tea agreed immediately, but Tristan and Joey had to get a few mock glares first.

"Okay, fine, ya' wimps," Joey joked, turning down the hall.

000000

Someone must have leaked, though, because when Alex took a bathroom break before lunch, a group of girls she had never met came up to her and started asking questions.

"So we heard you had fun on Valentine's Day," the brunette said, washing her hands.

Alex raised her eyebrow, but couldn't help but grin. "Yeah."

"You spent the night with Bakura is what _I _heard," the blonde said, leaning on the counter.

"Ah," Alex said, flicking water droplets from her fingers into the sink. She walked over to the paper towel dispenser and pulled out a few. "We just fell asleep, that's all."

"Are you sure?" said a girl with long brown hair. She was sitting on the counter, a grin on her lips.

"Wouldn't I know?" Alex asked, her eyebrows rising.

"But you did sleep there?"

"With him?"

"Yeah. But there was actual _sleep _involved," Alex said. She had to admit, though, she liked the attention. It had been a while since anyone other than the gang and David had cared about what she did.

"Man, what a bummer," the blonde said.

"You can't honestly say the thoughts never crossed your mind, though, can you?" the brunette with the long hair asked.

Alex gaped at her. "That's a personal question!"

"Oh please," all three said.

"You two are probably the only couple in this school who haven't slept together," the shorthaired brunette said.

"So? I feel no need to be like everyone else," Alex said indignantly.

"I didn't say you should be. I was merely stating a fact."

"Okay. Good. Keep stating facts. Go around and clear up the fact that I only spent the night at Bakura's house, not with Bakura," Alex said, throwing her paper towels in the trashcan.

"Okay," the girls said as Alex left.

She met up with Bakura at their lockers and they grinned at each other.

"Word is getting around," he said as they headed towards the cafeteria.

"Wonder who spilled," Alex replied.

"Joey probably."

"Maybe."

The hallways were emptying and soon Alex and Bakura were only running into another student every once in a while. When they reached the cafeteria, Bakura spotted a girl sitting in the corner of the hall. He glanced at Alex to see if she noticed, but she didn't seem to.

"I'll meet you in there, okay?" he said to her.

"Where are you going?" Alex asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"I just have to do something. I'll see you in a minute," he said.

"Okay. I'll save you a spot," she replied with a shrug. After the cafeteria door had swung shut behind her, Bakura turned to the girl who still sat in the corner, her knees against her chest and her forehead resting on them.

As Bakura walked over to her slowly, he could hear her soft sobs. He sat down next to her, but she didn't seem to notice. Her blonde hair flowing over her face looked incredibly familiar and as he stared at her, he realized who she was. But why was Elsie Bridges sitting in the hall, crying?

It took him a second to find his voice. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Elsie started and looked at him briefly, her eyes red. "What do you want?" she sniffed.

"Why are you crying?" he asked softly, wondering if this was a good idea or not. Should he be sitting here next to Elsie trying to comfort her after all the times she had made a fool out of him? What if it got around school and the rumor went out that he had a crush on her again?

But as she started crying again, all thoughts of himself left his head. After a split second of hesitation, he placed his hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"It's none of your business," she said, her voice cracking. But before Bakura could reply, she sat up and launched into the whole story, tears streaming down her face. "I got into a fight with the girls," she sobbed. "Darcy likes this guy, but he's completely not good enough for her and I told her that when she told me. But I couldn't talk her out of liking him and she said she wouldn't do anything about it, just that I shouldn't tell anyone. And I didn't! But somehow the guy found out and Darcy got mad at me because she thought I told him. And Rita, Brittany, and Julie all took Darcy's side and now they're all mad at me and I don't have any friends!" Elsie dropped her forehead back onto her knees as tears began to pour out of her eyes again.

Bakura stared at her for a second. He couldn't help but think what a stupid thing it was that she was bawling over. Alex would never cry if someone accused her of something as ridiculous as that. Alex wouldn't even be bothered by it. But then, Elsie wasn't Alex. Her life pretty much revolved around her friends and as he thought about it, he supposed getting in a fight with the other preps was a big deal to her.

"Of course you have friends," he said, trying to think of something constructive to say. "They may not be the most popular people in the school, but they're nice." _As apposed to Rita and the girls,_ he thought.

Elsie snapped her head to Bakura and glared at him. "You don't get it! I _have _to be popular! If I'm not, all my friends won't want to talk to me and then I'll get depressed and not make good grades and then my parents will be disappointed in me and that's the worst thing that can happen!" she sobbed.

Bakura blinked at her. _This girl has a few issues._ "Here, why don't you sit with me and Alex?" he said after a minute.

"Are you kidding?" she asked, sniffing. "I'd be laughed at for sitting with geeks!"

He frowned. Alex had called him a geek plenty of times, but he knew she didn't really mean it as an insult. "It's up to you. You can be friendless and depressed, or you can have friends that aren't as popular as you'd like. I'll be in the cafeteria. Come over if you want." With that, he stood up and headed through the cafeteria doors.

He saw Alex sitting by herself at a table by the doors and he went over to her. "Hey," he said, sitting down beside her.

"Hey, what took so long?" she asked.

"Oh, I…" he started, but a shadow was cast over them.

"Do you mind…?" Bakura looked up to see Elsie, her eyes still red from crying.

"What do you want?" Alex snarled.

"Alex," Bakura warned. She gaped at him as he turned back to Elsie. "Of course not. Sit down."

"Bakura, can I talk to you for a minute?" Alex said in a sickeningly sweet voice. Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed his sleeve and dragged him off the bench and across the cafeteria.

"Alex, did you look at her? She's been crying her eyes out…" he started, but cut off immediately at his girlfriend's death glare.

"She's a _prep!_ What the _hell _do you think you're doing? If you think I'm going to agree to this you're insane!" she hissed.

"She's just been in an argument with the other preps and she's feeling really bad," Bakura said desperately. He should have known Alex wouldn't take it well; how could he think she would?

"I don't believe what I'm hearing!" She started to say something else, but then her eyes blazed fiercely. "It's because she's Elsie Bridges, isn't it? If you so much as _think _about going with her I'll never speak to you again, do you understand?" she snarled.

Bakura stared at her. "Is that what you think? That I still like her? Alex, don't be ridiculous! Look, just bear with me for a little while. She can't stay mad at the preps forever, eventually she'll decide to go back to Rita and we'll be home free."

Alex stared at him for a minute and Bakura could almost see the wheels turning in her head, trying to decide what to do. "Fine. But you go _nowhere _alone with her, do you understand me?" she said, poking him in the chest.

Bakura made a face. "Why would I want to? Come on let's go back. As I said before, we'll probably only be stuck with Elsie for a few days. She's a prep at heart and she won't be able to stand being with us unpopular folk for very long."

"You'd better be right. I don't want some bitchy blonde bimbo hanging around me all the time. It'll ruin my image," she snarled as they walked back to the table. Bakura couldn't help but chuckle as he draped his arm around her shoulder. That seemed to lighten Alex's mood a little because he felt her relax a little. Maybe it was the fact that Bakura wasn't afraid to show that he and Alex were together in front of Elsie. When they sat down, she deliberately guided him to the opposite side of the table from Elsie. He didn't object and she relaxed even more.

"Thanks…um…" Elsie said, looking at Bakura. She rotated her hand slowly in a circle, trying to think of his name. "Um…"

"Bakura Ryou," he said. "And this is Alex Moore, my girlfriend."

"Hi," Elsie said, giving both a weak smile as she sniffed. "Thanks for doing this for me, Bakura. And Alex too; I know I'm not exactly your favorite person in the world."

"You've noticed," Alex said coolly. Bakura elbowed her hard in the ribs and she glared at him. She sighed as she saw Elsie was on the verge of tears again.

"Don't mind Alex, she needs to work on her people skills," Bakura said, giving his girlfriend a look. Alex's eyes blazed and her fists clenched under the table and she stared at him.

_What?_ she shrieked to herself. _Bakura, watch yourself…_

His statement seemed to make Elsie feel a little better, though, because she laughed quietly. She sniffed again and wiped her eyes, giving the couple a small smile. "So, what do you guys usually talk about? Maybe I can get an inside look on the unpopular world."

Bakura felt a little self-conscious being in the presence of his old crush, but he knew that should anything bad happen Alex would whisk him away as if there was a fire. "Um, we don't talk about nails if that's what you're asking," he said and Elsie laughed, a beautiful soft sound. He was glad to realize that this time it didn't make his stomach flutter.

"I suppose you really do have a bad impression of me, huh?" she said, her smile fading slightly. She sniffed again and folded her arms on the table. "I guess I'd always wondered how the unpopular people saw us. I knew most were envious and I liked that. I wanted to be the girl everyone loved I guess."

"Then why do you act like such a bitch?" Alex snapped. She let out a tiny squeak as Bakura elbowed her in the ribs again.

But Elsie didn't seem too disturbed by Alex's remark. "Yeah I was kind of mean. And I know it doesn't mean anything now, but I am sorry. I just got caught up in it all I guess. Rita can be so overbearing sometimes and if you don't do everything her way she can be so cruel and she'd throw you out of the group and make you an outcast…" Tears were running down her cheeks again and she sniffed and wiped them away desperately.

"Rita can be a snob sometimes," Bakura agreed. He could feel Alex's glare and ignored it, forcing himself to keep his eyes on Elsie.

"Yeah, she can. I don't know why I ever let her influence me! It's just that she was so popular because she's just so gorgeous and when she thought I was too I just got caught up in it. I was popular and that made me feel great, so I was happy all the time and I was doing well in cheerleading and my parents were proud of me and… and I just wanted to make them happy. Only once they were happy I was like, why can't I be too? And Rita got her way with everything the way she acted, so I figured I could be the same way and be perfect. Guys loved me and even you liked me for a bit and that really got my ego swelled," Elsie said, staring at her hands. Her eyes were watering again, but she seemed to be fighting it better this time. She didn't notice the death glare Alex was sending her way, which was probably for the best.

Bakura could feel a small blush creep into his cheeks at her mention of his previous crush. He had hoped she would have forgotten. "You got caught up in the moment, that's understandable," he said, praying Alex wouldn't beat him up the first chance she got.

"I know. And I'm really sorry… both of you," Elsie croaked, sniffing again. A solitary tear rolled down her cheek and she didn't bother wiping it away. Her sky blue eyes were glistening with more tears, but no more fell.

"You realize it's going to take more than an apology to get me to warm up to you. And if this is some plot to…" Alex started, but this time Bakura turned on her.

"Stop it! Get a grip, Alex!" he cried, his brown eyes sharp.

Alex fell silent as she stared at him in shock. In all the time she had known him, he had never even come close to yelling at her. Suddenly a fleeting thought flew through her mind. What if Elsie's new attitude would bring Bakura and Alex's relationship to an end? She didn't think she could handle it if that happened. Bakura and David were all she had in the world and no prep was going to destroy that. In a few seconds, Alex resolved to be nice (or at least civil) to Elsie if it killed her. She'd have to prove to Bakura that she was better than Elsie and always would be. That would have to start now.

"Sorry," Alex grunted, the word unfamiliar to her. She could probably have counted all the times she had apologized on one hand.

"It's all right. You have every reason to be skeptical. I know that we'll probably never be friends, but maybe we could at least try to be decent to each other?" Elsie said, a hopeful look on her face as she dried her face.

"Yeah," Alex managed, unable to look her in the face. She couldn't believe she was being nice to a prep…

Elsie gave her a small smile. "Thanks, Alex. You're really taking this better than I had expected, you know?"

"Yeah, I know."

Bakura stared at Alex in shock. He couldn't believe his ears. Did she just _apologize _to Elsie? He pinched himself to be sure he hadn't just drifted off. He shook himself out of it when he realized that the conversation had stopped. "Um… do you want anything to eat? I know what they serve here barely qualifies as food, but it's something," he said out of desperation.

Alex looked at him, her eyes cold. _You'd better be talking to me._ Her gaze seemed to intimidate him because he then addressed her.

"Chocolate or vanilla pudding?" he asked.

"Chocolate," she replied and he could hear the satisfaction in her voice. It was almost as if she was reminding him of the fact that he was hers and should go nowhere near any other girl. He had to admit, he liked the fact that she was a little jealous. He'd never seen her jealous before, but it was cute.

"Sure," Bakura said, smiling at her. She gave him a half smile in return that vanished the second he turned to Elsie. "Anything for you?"

"No thanks, they're serving Mystery Stew again," she said, wrinkling her nose.

Alex jumped at the chance to disgust Elsie. "Yeah," she said grinning. "God knows what they put in there. You might be eating roasted rat for all you know. I've heard rumors."

Elsie's eyes widened to the size of saucers and it was all Alex could do not to burst into laughter. "You… you're not serious!"

"_No,_ she's not. She does that all the time to Tea, don't worry," Bakura said. "Behave while I'm gone, Alex," he said, winking subtly at her as he got up. Alex grinned as he touched her shoulder when he passed by. Her grin faded, though, as she heard Elsie sigh.

"You're really sweet together, you know? When I first heard about you two I was like, no way, that's a joke. A geek and a punk? That's good enough for the headlines! But now I see that's completely wrong. You're perfect for each other. Each of you provides a nice contrast to the other and it's really cute to watch you. Sometimes I kind of wish I had a guy I was as close with as you are with Bakura," Elsie said almost wistfully.

Alex stared at her. _This is a joke. This can't be reality. There's no way Elsie Bridges is as innocent and pure as this. Something's not right here. _"Yeah…" she just said, unsure of what else she could say. She stared into Elsie's eyes and, even though that perfect, innocent blue of her eyes could have fooled just about anyone, there was a hint of something that shouldn't be there. Untruth. And suddenly she felt as though a rock had been dropped into her stomach. What was going to happen? Something was being planned, but there was no way she'd get Bakura to believe it. He was one for believing in forgiveness. And even Alex had to admit that Elsie was pretty convincing. She was able to do the hurt, sorry little girl very well and get a ton and a half of pity she didn't deserve. So, was this all an act? Or was there really truth in what she was saying?

A few minutes later, though, Bakura came back to the table and tried to strike up a conversation with both girls, but wound up on the Linkin Park concert Alex and he were going to see with Alex and the latest movies that had come out with Elsie. It made for a very weird lunch hour. He was very relieved when the bell rang and it was time for class again. He was even gladder when he realized Elsie wasn't in any more of his classes for the rest of the day. It was just he and Alex again and when he smiled at her as he draped his arm around her shoulders, he got a smile in return.

a/n: Okay, the chaos has just begun. It gets better (or worse) from here, so review if you want me to post!


	7. A Day With A Prep

a/n: Oh my god I am so sorry I haven't posted guys! I've been writing about seven different original books and I've been in a play, doing karate, getting a job, mental problems… And then of course there's homework. I'll try to do better, I promise!

Alex sighed as she closed her locker that afternoon. Though she hadn't seen Elsie at all since lunch, the prep had been the only thing on her mind. She didn't like the fact that Elsie Bridges just _happened_ to be the one Bakura had liked the year before. Was it coincidence? Alex couldn't convince herself that it was. But she was convinced not to let anyone onto the fact that she was nervous about it, especially not Bakura. She had to appear like she was so sure of her relationship with him that nothing could come between them. She had to be strong about it. That was the only way she'd be able to hold onto him.

Though, she began to feel much better when Bakura put his arm around her as they walked down the corridor towards the doors of the school. She wrapped her arm around his waist and grinned at him, getting one of his warm smiles in return. By the time they were descending the steps of Domino High her spirits had lifted considerably. But that was short lived because once they started walking home they heard a girl calling their names. And the voice didn't belong to Tea.

Alex scowled as she and Bakura turned around to see Elsie coming towards them. "Is she going to be following us everywhere now?" she hissed. "What did you get us into?"

"Be nice, Alex," Bakura muttered back before addressing Elsie. "What is it?"

The blonde stopped a few feet away from them and didn't speak for a minute. When she did, it was to her hands. "Um… well, see… I have a lot of English homework and, like, that's my worst subject. See, we usually went over to Brittany's, because she's so good at it, but I obviously can't do that… and… and I was hoping that maybe you'd help me?" she said, looking up at them. When she noticed the death glare Alex was giving her she quickly added, "But if you don't, I'll understand. You didn't have to even let me sit with you at lunch. You're really putting yourselves out for me and I shouldn't be asking this of you. I'll just go." She began to back up, but Bakura stopped her. He managed to remove his arm from Alex and get far enough away from her before she could hurt him.

"Elsie, you're not asking too much. Alex and I were going to study anyway, so if you want, you can come over and join us," he said. He tried not to think of how much trouble he was in now with Alex as he looked at Elsie, whose eyes had widened in happiness.

"Really? You'd let me?" she asked, breathing in relief. When Bakura nodded, she lit up like a light bulb and threw her arms around his neck. "You're, like, the best person in the world! I can't believe you'd do this for me! Thank you so much!"

Bakura blushed a vibrant shade of red as Elsie hugged him. Unsure of what to do, he sort of just put his hands lightly on her waist, waiting for her to let go. He couldn't imagine how infuriated Alex must be and how much she was going to scream once she got him alone.

"Yes… um… well…" he stammered as Elsie let go, still beaming. He glanced at Alex out of the corner of his eye and felt like a rock had been dropped into his stomach. He could practically see steam coming out of her ears as she glared furiously at him. The only thing that would have made her appearance scarier would have been if her eyes had been red. _Thanks a lot, Elsie, you've really done it this time,_ Bakura thought, forcing the color to drain from his face.

Elsie must have noticed his blush because she giggled and apologized. "Oh, sorry. I won't do that again. Sorry Alex," she said, noticing the way Alex was staring at her.

"Sure, no problem," Alex replied dangerously, her eyes boring into Elsie's. She must have been satisfied with the nervous look she got out of the prep because she turned around, grabbing Bakura's sleeve, and started walking down the street again.

Elsie walked around the other side of Bakura, smiling happily despite Alex's foul mood. "So, after we study what do you want to do?" she asked.

"Bakura and _I _were planning on going to a movie," Alex said, leaning around him to glare at her.

"Oh, that sounds great!" Elsie said cheerfully. "What movie is it?"

"No, I mean…" Alex started, but Bakura wrapped his arm around her neck and covered her mouth. She licked his palm, but this time he didn't let go.

"We're not sure. We usually just go to the theater and see whatever's playing that looks interesting," he said, finally releasing Alex's mouth and dropping his hand to her shoulder.

"Oh, okay. I just hope it's not a horror. I don't like horrors," Elsie said, shuddering. "I saw one Stephen what's his name's film and I had nightmares the rest of the week."

Alex stared at her. "You don't like horror movies? Are you sick or something? And Stephen King is the best horror writer on the planet; they just screw up his movies. I swear _Graveyard Shift_ was a terrible movie. But I'll bet it was a much better book. And don't get me started on _The Shining._ Talk about screwing up a movie! Stephen King should have sued!" she said, getting into the rambling mood.

"…Oh… um…" Elsie said, but silenced when Bakura put a hand up.

"Just let her go," he muttered. "You get used to it after a while."

Alex didn't notice what Bakura said as she continued to spout about _The Shining._ "I mean, what were they _thinking _making Danny talk to his _finger?_ Give me a break! He looked like he was insane!"

She continued talking about various Stephen King movies the producers had butchered until they reached Bakura's house. When she realized Elsie was still with them, her bad mood came back. But Bakura wouldn't let her say anything about it as the trio climbed the steps to his room. He wound up playing professor, helping Alex with her math and Elsie with her English.

Bakura went back and forth between Elsie and Alex's homework and barely had time for his own. Elsie caught on to things far faster than Alex did, that was for sure. He didn't know how many times he had to explain the same problems to her repeatedly. The thought had crossed his mind, however, that she was deliberately not getting some things to keep his attention on her. He didn't mind, though. He'd never had a girl like him enough to be jealous of someone else because of him.

Nearly two hours had passed before Elsie closed her textbook and sighed. "Done, finally," she said. "How about you two?"

Alex grumbled something inaudible and Bakura laughed at the confused look on Elsie's face. "Let me translate," he said. "She says she's almost done."

"Oh…" Elsie said, giving Alex a strange look. Luckily, she didn't notice. "Well, are you finished?" she asked, looking at Bakura.

"Oh, yeah. I'm pretty good at this stuff," he said, indicating the math book in front of him.

Elsie laughed. "You'd have to be to be able to teach it so well."

Bakura smiled and didn't notice Alex glance up and scowl. "Thanks," he said, gathering his books and dropping them into his backpack.

"I'm done," Alex announced and scooped her books into her bag as well.

"Great! Now we can go to the movies!" Elsie said happily.

"Sure," Bakura said, getting up and kicking his backpack under the bed.

Alex noticed and grinned. "Copycat," she said, poking him lightly in the arm.

"Yeah, I learned from the best," he replied, grinning back. He put his forefinger under her chin and pulled her in for a quick kiss. Elsie didn't seem to mind it because she was just as bouncy and cheerful afterwards and that satisfied Alex to the point where she stopped giving the prep death glares every time she spoke.

A little while later, the trio was standing outside the theater, trying to decide what to see from the posters. Alex wanted desperately to watch _White Noise, _but Elsie wouldn't hear of it. She wanted to see _Spanglish, _which Alex dismissed immediately. Bakura finally made them agree on _Meet The Fockers _after a lot of arguing.

When they were picking seats, Alex made sure she sat between Bakura and Elsie. She felt a little better when he put his arm around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

It turned out that the movie was hilarious and even Alex liked it. By the time it ended, Elsie had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard. When they left the theater it was dark out and after a little discussion, they decided to grab dinner at Victoria's. That was Alex and Bakura's favorite restaurant and they went there rather often. So, the three of them walked down the street, talking about the movie.

"And when Straisand was showing around the photo album… that was so hilarious!" Elsie was saying. Both she and Bakura laughed.

"Yeah, I…" Alex started, but Elsie was talking again and Bakura had his focus completely on her. She tried a few more times to get back into the conversation, but each time she went unnoticed. _What the…?_ she thought, giving an exasperated sigh. _Hey, Bakura, I still exist you know._

But they didn't acknowledge the fact that she was there until they got to Victoria's and the hostess said, "Party of three?" Alex answered and only then did she feel like she had become visible again to Bakura. Then, just to get back at him, she specifically asked for a table her friend, Samantha, had.

"Of course," the hostess said, smiling and leading the way to a table in the corner.

"Alex! Why Sam?" Bakura asked, giving her a distressed look. "She's always looking at me like I'm a disgusting bug or something!"

Alex scowled and said, "I have to have someone to talk to while you chat with _Elsie,_ don't I?"

"What?" Bakura asked, giving her a confused look. But he didn't get an answer because at that moment Sam came by.

"Alex! Haven't seen ya' for a bit, what's new?" she said, hi-fiving Alex over Bakura's head. He ducked, knowing the waitress would probably be perfectly happy to hit him in the head.

"Eh, not much. The normal shit, you know how it is," Alex replied with a shrug.

Sam gave an ironic laugh. "I hear ya'. I just found out my boyfriend's been screwing this blonde bimbo in Lit."

"What a bastard!" Alex exclaimed, her eyes widening. "You don't need him anyway. You're way too good for him."

"Yeah, that's what I keep telling myself."

Bakura and Elsie exchanged nervous looks as Alex and Sam completely ignored them. Ever since he and Alex had started dating she'd never left him out of a conversation intentionally before. He always managed to get some sort of word in, but now it seemed she was doing it deliberately. He supposed it was payback for bringing Elsie along.

Then Sam noticed Elsie. Her expression changed to one of disgust as though her costumer was something on the bottom of her shoe. "Who are _you?_" she asked.

"Um… I'm Elsie…" she replied, feeling self conscious and for good reason. Bakura couldn't help noticing the smirk Alex was wearing and he felt a stab of annoyance. She was doing all of this deliberately when Elsie hadn't done anything but be miserable.

"That it?" Sam asked.

"W-what? Um… Elsie Bridges…" she stammered, her cheeks growing pink.

"You don't look like the type Alex hangs with. What are you doing here?" Sam asked, leaning on the table and eyeing Elsie. Alex had to bite her tongue in order to stifle a laugh.

"Well, I'm a friend of Bakura's," Elsie snapped, regaining her composure in a second.

Alex's expression darkened and she glared across the table at Elsie. _How dare she say she's a friend of Bakura's!_ she thought.

"Bakura's?" Sam asked, her eyebrows rising. She looked at Alex. "Hey, can I see you for a minute?"

Alex nodded and slid her chair out. She stood and left with the waitress without a word to Bakura, leaving him looking after her in surprise. He suddenly felt very annoyed with Alex. He couldn't believe she was letting Sam harp on Elsie like that. And now Sam was probably suggesting that he was dating her behind Alex's back. Alex wouldn't be the only one yelling the next time they got a chance to talk.

Alex and Sam made their way to the restrooms, their dark attire earning them a few looks. When they made sure they were alone in the bathroom, Sam turned to her friend.

"Al, I think I owe it to ya' as a friend to let you know that you should watch your back with this Elsie chick. She's bad news. She looks just like the slut Eric was going with on the side. No offense, but this chick has everything going for her. She has a huge chest, a skinny waist, and she's blonde. Guys don't care what kind of brains a blonde has because they can pull off the 'I'm so ditzy, but on me it's so cute' thing. I know you don't want to lose Bakura, though I'm not sure _why,_ but you'd better watch him like a hawk when Elsie's around. Because you bet your ass on the fact that if you don't he'll fall like a rock for her," Sam said, her face very serious.

Alex stared at her, suddenly feeling unsure of her and Bakura's relationship again. "Yeah, I know," she said finally.

"Just be careful, Alex. That's all I'm saying," Sam said.

"I am."

"All right, let's go back out. Keep him in check, Al," she said as they left the restroom.

Alex nodded, her spirits in the dirt. She knew Sam meant the best, but her friend sure hadn't helped her much. The last thing she needed was more reason to suspect Bakura. She had been doing fine on her own. Guilt was beginning to hit her hard for doubting his loyalty so much, but there was always the gnawing voice in the back of her head saying, _It's Elsie Bridges… she couldn't do anything honest if her popularity depended on it…_ Alex didn't know what to do and she didn't say anything as she sat back down next to Bakura.

"So, do you know what you want to drink?" Sam asked, her pen hovering above her notepad.

"Yeah, coke," Alex said automatically.

Sam turned her gaze on Bakura and he lost his voice for a moment. "Um… sprite…" he stammered nervously. But if he had thought the way she looked at _him_ had been cold, she would have turned Elsie to ice.

"You?" she asked, her voice monotone.

But now Elsie wasn't fazed by her coolness. "Water," she said, glancing at the menu. She looked up at Bakura and said, "I don't drink soda, it's so unhealthy."

Sam and Alex rolled their eyes exasperatedly. Sam muttered something under her breath that sounded distinctly like, "Whatever bitch," before she left.

a/n: Erm… not much to say except that I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Don't forget to review!


	8. Argument

a/n: Again, I'm really sorry about the long wait for my chapters. I honestly will try to be better. If I gave you the list of everything that happened between the time I last posted and now you'd be reading all week, so I'll just say that life got in the way. Anyways, here you go.

Elsie finally detached herself from Alex and Bakura after dinner because she had to go get herself a dress for a party she and her mother were attending the next weekend. Alex merely glared at her as she explained to Bakura what she just _had_ to do.

"It's this big party for Mother's company and I have to attend," she said.

"I see. Well, have…" Bakura started, at this point rather eager to have her leave.

Elsie interrupted him though, a wide smile spreading across her soft face. "Oh! Why don't you come with me?" she asked, touching his arm excitedly. She didn't notice the fire blazing in Alex's eyes. "It'll be tons of fun and you can help me pick out a dress!"

Very aware of his girlfriend's penetrating glare, Bakura shifted nervously. "Uh, no… I really have to get home. It's getting late," he said, taking a step away from her.

"Oh," Elsie replied, disappointed. "Um, okay then. Will I see you tomorrow?" she asked hopefully.

"What's happening tomorrow?" Alex interjected, her voice deadly.

"Just school," Bakura replied, looking at her. The look in his eyes was telling her to back down, but it only infuriated her more. He turned back to Elsie and nodded. "Yeah."

"Great!" she said with a smile. "See you later guys!" She turned to leave, waving over her shoulder.

The second Elsie was out of earshot, Alex rounded on Bakura. "Tomorrow? You're planning on seeing her again _tomorrow?_"

"Alex, calm down. The world isn't coming to an end because Elsie needs a friend. She's changed, can't you see that?" he asked sharply, starting down the sidewalk.

Alex's jaw dropped open as she followed him quickly. "Bakura, it's _Elsie Bridges!_ The chance of her changing is equivalent to the chance of snowballs rolling uphill in the summertime! What's wrong with you?"

Suddenly he stopped and spun around to her, anger in his eyes. Taken aback, she fell silent. "Alexandra! It's not what's wrong with me; it's what's wrong with _you!_ Why can't you just give her a chance? Why is this so hard for you to accept? What has she done to you today besides show you kindness? Leave her alone!" he cried, glaring at her.

They just stared at each other for a few seconds, Alex unable to believe he had just yelled at her. Not only that, but he had called her by her full name… something he had never done before. Words wouldn't form in her throat as she watched him spin on his heel and continue down the sidewalk. For a few minutes, she just looked at him walk away, unable to do anything more. When she managed to get herself to move, she had to run to catch up with him.

"Why does it have to be something she did _today?_" she asked, jogging beside him. He didn't look at her, his eyes focused ahead of him. "Are we just going to discount everything she's ever done? She humiliated _you_ Bakura! Are you just going to forgive her for all of that because of one day?"

"She was manipulated by Rita, Alex!" he argued, turning briefly to her. "She was only trying to impress Rita! Now that's she's broken away, her true self is revealed!"

"You don't know that this is really her true self! Has the thought that this is all a trick crossed your mind?" Alex asked incredulously.

"Why would she bother pulling one over on us? What would be the point?" he cried, spreading his hands. "It doesn't make sense! She just got into a fight with the preps and now she's on her own. It'll take a little while for her to get used to the 'unpopular world' as she calls it, but she will. And I intend to help her."

Alex stopped short at his statement, watching him continue ahead. She stared at him for a second in disbelief before running back to his side. "What do you mean you intend to help her?" she exclaimed.

"Just what I said, Alex. I'm going to be her friend. She needs one, just like you needed one when you first got here. If you have a heart you'll help me out," Bakura stated.

"I have a _brain_, Bakura, and there's no way in _hell _that Elsie is being honest here! Could you just consider it for a _minute?_" she asked desperately.

"No! Why can't you just give her a chance? Give her the benefit of the doubt for once! If I did with you what you want to do to Elsie we wouldn't be here right now!" he said, looking her in the eye.

"That was different!" Alex exclaimed.

"How?" he retorted, stopping and turning to her. "You were just as mean to me as Elsie was! Okay, you didn't humiliate me in front of people, but you threatened me and insulted my friends! But I knew there was another side to you, which was why I stuck with you! And I was right! So, why can't you trust me on the fact that I think I'm right about Elsie too?"

Alex could only stare at him. "I…" she stammered, at a loss for words. She recognized the logic in what he was saying, so why did so much of her still scream in opposition?

Bakura's eyes softened slightly as he took hold of her shoulders. "Trust me, Alex. I know what I'm doing," he said, looking her in the eye with sincerity. His gaze was gentle, yet also so intense all she could do was nod stiffly.

"I hope you know what you're doing," she muttered. He gave her a small smile and let her shoulders go, sliding his hands into his pockets. They both continued down the sidewalk, though an awkward silence remained. Finally, out of desperation to lighten the mood, Alex turned to him and jabbed her forefinger into his arm. "But if you _ever_ call me Alexandra again I'm going to tie you up and lock you in a room with Jade!" she said, a smirk creeping across her lips.

Bakura couldn't help but laugh and he pulled his hand out of his pocket, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Glad that their argument was over they rounded the corner to their street in a far more comfortable silence. For the next fifteen minutes before they got to her house, all thoughts of Elsie were driven from Alex's mind, replaced by hidden uneasiness of their conversation. Ever since they had been dating they hadn't been in an argument, and Bakura had _never _raised his voice to her. She was afraid of the effect Elsie was having on their relationship and she couldn't help but wonder if the prep would be the thing to end them. She didn't think she could handle it if she lost Bakura. He and David were the only things in the world that she had, the only things keeping her somewhat sane. What would she do without him?

When they reached the base of Alex's driveway, Bakura removed his arm from her shoulders. She expected him to kiss her good-bye before he left, but he didn't. He merely gave her a brief wave and a small smile as he started down the street. Her heart sank as she watched him, hoping he'd at least look back over his shoulder. He didn't. Both surprised and immensely hurt, she tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, clenching her fists in an attempt to help. After Bakura turned the corner out of sight, she took a deep breath to calm herself and started up her driveway. He was mad at her. She couldn't believe it. He'd never been mad at her before…

Alex made her way to the front door stiffly, trying to hide the fact that something was wrong. If Jade knew she'd gotten in an argument with Bakura, she'd have a ball. With a deep breath, she entered her house and slammed the door behind her. Immediately, David's footsteps could be heard down the upstairs hall as he came to greet her. She slung her jacket onto one of the hooks by the door as her little brother jumped down the last few steps and attached himself to her waist.

"My god," she said, surprised as he almost knocked her off balance. She rested her hand on his back lightly, waiting for him to let go. "You're in a good mood."

David let go and backed up a few steps so he could look up at his sister. "Yeah! Moki's upstairs and we were looking online to see when that Linkin Park concert was playing that you and Bakura were going to go to. They're coming next Saturday!" he exclaimed excitedly. Suddenly, he dropped to his knees and clasped his hands together, staring up at Alex with big eyes. "Please, please, _please_ can Moki and I go too?" he begged.

Alex just stared at him for a minute, taken by surprise. After the argument she had just had with Bakura, she wasn't sure if _she_ was even going. Though she supposed even if he didn't come she could still go. And it might be nice to do something with David. She had never met Moki, but she trusted her brother's taste in friends.

"I suppose so," she said slowly. David leapt to his feet suddenly, punching the air.

"Yeah!" he cried, wrapping his arms around Alex's waist again. When he let go, he ran upstairs shouting for Moki.

"Hey! Squirt, wait up!" Alex cried, following her brother up the stairs. She could hear him shrieking the good news to his friend down the hall and she jogged to his doorway. "Hey," she said, stepping just inside the door. "I don't know if Bakura is coming or not. He said he might have something to do," she lied, feeling a pang of guilt in her stomach.

"What? No, he has to come! I want him to meet Moki!" David said, staring at her with his big eyes.

"Well, I'll check with him, but I don't know," Alex said, glancing at the other kid in the room. She couldn't stand lying to David and if she looked at him, she thought she might crack. So, instead, she focused on who she imagined must be Moki.

A raven-haired boy sat cross-legged on David's bed, his dull, gray/violet eyes looking at her kindly. He looked about the same age as her brother, so she figured he was a friend from school. She nodded a hello and he waved back.

"Hi!" he said, smiling.

David hopped up immediately and introduced them. "Oh! Moki, this is my big sister, Alex!" he said, his brown eyes dancing happily.

"Okay squirt, well, nice to meet your friend. I gotta' scram, though. Homework, you know the drill," Alex said, eager to leave. She couldn't stand the thought of being sucked into another lie and the sooner she left the better.

"Oh, okay. See you later Alex," David said, going over to his bed and hopping up beside Moki.

"It was nice to meet you," Moki said and Alex nodded.

"Yeah, you too," she replied, backing out of the room. With a sigh, she continued down the hall to her room and shut the door, locking it with a click.

She headed over to her CD player and punched 'play,' Linkin Park suddenly blaring. Moving her head slightly in rhythm to the beat and mouthing the words, she sat down at her desk and turned on her laptop. Jade had gotten it for her for Christmas, one of the only presents of hers Alex had ever liked.

Once it had booted, she logged onto the Internet and checked her IM for her friend from America, Cassie. Alex had met her by chance in a chat room the first week she had had her computer. Though Cassie was born in the States, she had an interest in Japan, so she learned the language. When the two girls got to talking about Linkin Park, Cassie offered to teach Alex what the words meant and give her lessons in English. So, every other day Alex would get online and have a lesson in a foreign language. It was proving very useful, especially when she wanted to curse out Jade while David was in the room. She hated cursing in front of David. Maybe it was because he was eleven and she thought he was too young to be learning those sorts of words.

When Alex checked her IM, Cassie wasn't on. Frowning, she logged into her email and found a message.

"Alex… Sorry I can't get on today, I'm really booked. I'll talk to you later though. Practice what you know so far! Cassie," Alex read quietly. She frowned and signed offline.

Now really stumped as to what to do, she scanned her room with bored eyes. Finally, she decided to call Bakura and see if he was still planning to see the concert with her. She was dreading the call, especially since she had no idea how she would start it off. She didn't want to insult him if he was still going to come.

With a sigh, she turned her CD player down and picked up the cordless phone on her end table. Flopping down on her bed, she punched in Bakura's number and waited as it rang. One… two… three… four… Finally, his dad answered.

"Hey, Bakura there?" she asked automatically.

"You bet, hold on," he replied. There was a soft _clunk_ as he put the phone down on the counter. A few minutes later, Bakura's voice came through the line.

"Hey, you still planning on coming to the concert?" Alex asked, figuring she'd cut straight to the point.

"Of course, it sounds like fun!" he said. She couldn't tell if his enthusiasm was slightly forced or if it was only her imagination.

"Okay, well, David and his friend want to come too. That all right?" she asked.

"Sure."

"All right, cool."

Silence. Neither one of them knew what to say now that they had expired that topic. Alex shifted uncomfortably on her bed, hoping he'd say something. Minutes went by and she could hear his growing uneasiness on the other end. After another few seconds, Alex broke the silence.

"You're still mad at me aren't you?"

Bakura sighed. "Alex, I'm sorry I yelled at you. But you were being rather judgmental."

Alex scowled. "And naturally I don't have a reason to be judgmental, right?"

"Alex, come on! I don't want to fight with you. If you're going to start up again I'm going to hang up."

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll tell David you'll pick us up for the concert next week," she said, staring at the ceiling.

"All right. Bye," he replied. Before Alex could speak, he hung up.

She lay on her bed motionless for a minute, the phone at her ear. She couldn't believe he was being so abrupt with her. He never had been before. Their argument really must have annoyed him, though she wasn't sure why. It disturbed her to know that Bakura cared so much about Elsie's feelings. It was almost like he cared more about the prep than her. And that really stung. It wasn't right. He should be considering her side of the story, shouldn't he? But then, she supposed she could consider his side too. Maybe she _was_ being judgmental. Maybe she _should_ give Elsie a chance. Bakura was putting up a good argument, but still every fiber in Alex's body was screaming, "Are you _nuts?_" What was she supposed to do?

Suddenly the phone began to beep loudly in her ear and she jumped, wrenching the receiver away. With a glare at it, she hung up and dropped it on her end table as she sat up. She sighed and stared at it for a few minutes, her mind wandering. Something was wrong with this situation. She knew Elsie was trouble, yet she just couldn't prove it. What was she supposed to do? She needed proof. But what proof could she have? First, she needed a reasonable explanation as to _why_ Elsie would want to deceive her and Bakura. She couldn't remember anything bad happening involving the preps lately. In fact, the last thing she could remember was the day she and Bakura first considered themselves together. The day Alex had punched Rita.

"You don't know how stupid that was, Moore. You are totally going to pay for that. Getting on our bad side was a bad idea…"

Yeah, Rita had threatened her after that, but then, could a phrase that included the word "totally" really be called a threat? And why would they wait four months to do something? Alex would have expected retaliation immediately. That's what the preps at her old school would have done. Courtney Casey… she had been the brains (if you could call them that) behind the operation. If a girl irritated her, she'd have one of her minions do something like stuff tissues into her victim's locker with a stupid note like, "Just in case you need extra." Alex hadn't been the butt of that joke, but the girl with the locker beside her was. It wasn't that the girl was a friend of Alex's; in fact, she had never really even spoken to her. But seeing her burst into tears as she read the note and Courtney standing down the hall, laughing with her two cronies, snapped something inside Alex. That was the day she got herself expelled. She hadn't told Bakura, but her emotional stability was almost non-existent at that time, and she hadn't stopped at just punching Courtney. She'd hit her in the face, then slammed her into the wall. Alex distinctly remembered grabbing her silky red hair and ramming her head back into the wall. Courtney's eyes had rolled back into her head as she almost passed out and had one of the teachers not pulled her away Alex would have done serious damage to her. She was expelled that afternoon.

Ever since Alex was fourteen she had been twisted. The only emotion that ever revealed itself had been anger. And it surfaced often. She was a loner, mostly because no one dared come anywhere near her. Not only had the horrible murder scene of her parents distorted her, the news had spread throughout her school. It was on the news. It was in the paper. The other students would look at her in the halls and whisper. No one would come over to her. They didn't know what to say. A part of Alex was relieved that nobody wanted to ask her any questions, but another part wanted, _needed_, a friend to care. All the whispering infuriated her. She'd hit anyone who got in her way, snap at anyone who dared speak to her. She was so dark and dangerous. Until she started at Domino High.

Bakura approached her the first day and was nice to her. He had seemed so genuine. It struck something inside her, triggered something that she didn't recognize. Not only was he nice to her that first day, he pursued her. He had been what she needed to find herself again. He showed her what she could be. But now there was the threat that she could lose him. Not only lose him, but also lose him to _Elsie._ That would be the worst thing that could happen to her. She couldn't allow it. But how could she stop it? She didn't know what she should do.

With a sigh, Alex looked down at her hands. She was twirling her penknife in her fingers, the blade out. She frowned, folded the blade inside it, and placed it on her end table. That had been her habit for a while when she was fourteen. Stress always brought out strange little quirks in her.

"I gotta get out of here," she muttered, standing. She swiped her penknife off her end table and slipped it into her pocket as she started to her bedroom door.

As she passed David's room, she peered inside. Her brother and Moki were playing chess and from the big grin on Moki's face, it looked like he was winning. Alex grinned softly as she continued down the hall to the stairs. Her energy level was low and she settled for just descending the steps instead of sliding down the banister.

She grabbed her jacket from the hook by the front door, slipped it on, and left. Completely clueless as to where she wanted to go, she just started down the street. The arcade was always good she supposed. Well, that was as good a place as any, so, wrapping her jacket tightly around her, she picked up her pace.

Fifteen minutes later, she was entering the arcade, a wave of warmth washing over her. She started over to one of the games, but before she even got halfway there, someone was calling her name. Alex groaned audibly as Tea bounded over to her.

"Alex! Hi! When did you get here?" Tea asked happily, stepping in front of Alex.

"Two seconds ago," Alex replied, her voice low. _Great. Just what I needed._

"Really? I've been here for a while. I was just about to do DDR, you want to do it with me?" she asked.

Alex raised her eyebrow. "Yeah… how about no."

"Oh come on! It'll be fun!" Tea grabbed her arm and tried to drag her over to the DDR machine, but Alex pried away.

"I don't think so. I don't dance," she said, folding her arms defiantly.

"What do you mean you don't dance? Everyone dances," Tea said, slightly confused.

Alex glared at her as the sound of a boom box reached her ears. She glanced outside the arcade to see a group of guys trying to find a station on the radio. A smirk crossed her lips as she turned back to Tea.

"You want to see me dance? Fine. Out here," she said, heading for the door.

"What? DDR is this way," Tea said, but she followed Alex outside. "Alex… what are you doing?" she hissed when she saw her head over to the guys.

Alex ignored her, stepping up to a black guy with a beanie. She nodded her head at him in greeting. "Yo, what's goin' on?"

The guy looked down at her in surprise before laughing and turning to his buddies. "Yo, check this out, we got a chick!" His friends laughed even harder when they caught sight of Tea watching warily from a few feet away.

Alex smirked. "Good, so you're not blind. Turn that up," she said, gesturing towards the boom box. "I'm gonna show this prima-donna what real dancing is." Alex looked over her shoulder at Tea smirked at her horrified expression. "Well, you gonna watch or what?"

A couple of the guys moaned in fake terror while the others laughed. "She's got attitude! Let her in, man. Let's see what she can do," the black guy said, gesturing Alex into the center of the circle.

Alex grinned at him as she moved into the circle while Tea sidled over, her arms wrapped around her waist in an attempt to disappear. She was very wary of the guys who were staring at her chest and making rude gestures. She glared at one with a baseball cap sideways on his head and had pants hanging off his ass.

"Pump it up," Alex told the guy manning the boom box. She took off her jacket smoothly and tossed it at Tea, who caught it haphazardly. And, with a crack of her knuckles, she dropped to the ground.

Her movements were so fast and sharp that Tea could hardly understand what Alex was doing. She had seen brake dancing before, but had never actually imagined that she would know someone who could do it to such an extreme. When Alex did a spin on her head the brunette cringed. She'd always wondered how people did that without coming away with a headache. Tea was vaguely aware of the guys' stunned expressions, but didn't look at them for fear she'd miss a move. Alex continued through the whole song, her hair and legs seeming to fly everywhere. By the time she finished, she was out of breath and her hair was disheveled. As she stood up, she smirked at Tea, her chin raised victoriously.

"And _that _is dancing, Tea," Alex said, walking over to her. She could feel the eyes of everyone on her and her smirk grew. Tea's jaw was on the floor and her brown eyes were huge.

"What's your name, chick?" the black guy asked, nodding in approval.

"Alex. You?"

"Derek. Where'd you learn those moves?" he asked.

Alex shrugged. "I get around."

"Well, you're all right, Alex. You see us around feel free stop by. You'd better," Derek said.

"I'll hold ya' to it," she replied with a smirk. "I gotta scram. Catch ya' later."

The guys bid her goodbye as she moved past Tea, taking her jacket from her and putting it on. She ran her hand through her hair briefly to flatten it. Tea just stared at her for a minute before running after her.

"You… wow… where did you learn _that_?" Tea asked, jogging beside Alex.

"As I told Derek, I get around," she responded. For once, she wasn't completely irritated by Tea's presence.

"Does Bakura know you can do that?" Tea asked.

Alex frowned at her mention of Bakura. She had come to the arcade to forget about their argument, not talk about him. "It hasn't come up in conversation."

"I'm sure he'll be really impressed!"

Alex wasn't sure what to respond to that, so she just didn't. A few minutes went by as the two girls walked down the street, both unsure of where they were going or what they were doing. At this point Alex was starting to wish Tea would leave and go bother someone else, but for the time being, she didn't say anything.

After a few more minutes, Tea spoke. "Um… Alex, are you okay? You seem kind of preoccupied."

"So? What's it to you?" Alex replied, sliding her hands into her pockets. _How did she hit it so dead on the nose?_

"I saw you and Bakura with Elsie Bridges today. Does it have something to do with that? You can tell me you know."

Alex stared at her for a second. _She's cleverer than I give her credit for._ "Look, that's our business, all right? Stay out of it."

Tea shrugged. "Well, okay. But you know you can talk to me if you want to."

"I don't."

There was silence for a few more minutes. They were approaching the bridge, leaving town. Then Tea asked a question that took Alex by surprise.

"Why don't you like me? You act okay with Joey and Yugi and Tristan, but you always are cold to me. Why?" Her voice was quiet, almost sounding hurt. When Alex turned her, surprised, Tea was looking at the ground.

"I'm not cold to you. Believe me, I could act far worse," she replied.

"Well, I know that, but you're certainly not nice to me," Tea said, looking at her.

Suddenly Alex felt rather awkward. Why didn't she like Tea? Because she was always giving those friendship lectures. Because her skirts barely covered her ass, and her shirts always looked like they were too small. And who the hell wears socks with sandals? She didn't like the fact that she was always so innocent. Tea was preppy, that's why Alex didn't like her. But when she literally asked her straight out, how could Alex tell her? She was one of Bakura's friends and she was already on bad terms with him. If she insulted Tea, word might get back to him and she'd be in even deeper trouble. And it wasn't like she really _wanted_ to hurt Tea's feelings; she just didn't care. But then, maybe she did. Now she was confused.

She sighed. "I'm rarely nice to anyone," she said, trying to dodge the question.

"Alex, what is it? Just tell me. I'm not going to say that I'll change, but I'll try not to be hurt either. I just want to know why you don't like me," she said.

Alex stopped and looked at her. She looked so sincere, her big brown eyes just staring back at her. "Well…" Alex tried, looking down at her feet. Why did she feel so awkward? "I don't know," she said, turning her gaze back to Tea. "You always act so preppy. With all your friendship speeches and your clothes. If you could even call them that."

"Oh," she replied, her voice barely audible. "It's just that friends are important to me, Alex. I don't mean to annoy anyone. And my clothes… well… isn't everyone entitled to their own taste? I don't pick on your choice of clothes."

Alex looked down at herself, at her black, leather jacket and dingy shirt, her pants decorated in chains, and had to recognize Tea's point. She never _had _criticized what she wore, so she supposed it really wasn't right for her to do that to Tea.

"I… I don't know. I guess it's just that the mini skirts and halter-tops kind of portray a cheap image, you know? Like you're easy," Alex said, feeling worse with each passing second.

It was obvious that stung Tea. "Well, your clothes give an impression of you too, really. When I first saw you I would have expected you to be the sort of person who smoked and did drugs and stuff. But that's not you. And your idea of me isn't true either. Maybe if you'd take the time to actually get to know me you realize that."

Alex just looked at her for a second. She was making sense. And if these rules applied to Tea… then maybe they applied to Elsie too. Maybe Elsie wasn't what she looked like either. But then, Tea had never acted like Elsie had. But she wasn't talking to Elsie. She was talking to Tea. And maybe she should be giving the brunette a chance.

"I guess. Um…" Alex said, now very uncomfortable.

"Do you think we could be friends?" Tea asked, extending her hand. Her face showed signs of hope as Alex looked at her.

After slight hesitation, Alex shook her hand. "Yeah. I'll give it a shot," she said, smiling.

Tea beamed. "All right, great. So, where are we going anyway?"

Alex shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes I hang out under the bridge. You can find some pretty cool stuff down there sometimes."

"Okay," she replied, smiling. Alex grinned back, unable to help herself. Maybe Tea wasn't so bad.

"Well, come on. We're not gonna get there by just standing around," she said, starting towards the bridge.

a/n: Yikes… long chapter! I got a little carried away I guess. lol That wasn't how I planned to end it, but whatever. Review and I'll get another chapter up, hopefully soon.


	9. Just When Things Start To Look Up

a/n: Sorry it's taken so long to update, guys, but there is a LOT of shit going on in my home right now. There's really too much to explain here, but the main one is that my mom is going to leave my dad come the end of this month. If any of you want to, you can go to and search for my journal under my penname, greenwooddancer. You can read up to a certain point, but I've recently made my journal friends only, so if you want to read the latest entries, you'll have to join the site and add me to your friends list. I normally wouldn't make ya'll do that, but my ex is stalking me so… heh… yeah. Oh yeah… and so I know you are who you say you are would you put your penname in your bio? That's so I know you're not my ex pretending to be someone else (He's done that before). And if you have no interest in going to my LJ and reading about my problems, this paragraph has been a complete waste of your time. Go ahead and read on before I lose what's left of my reviewers. Enjoy!

000000

Alex led the way under the bridge and into even darker shadows. The streetlamps shed some light in the night, but not much. Alex could feel Tea's sudden uneasiness as they made their way carefully along the bank of the little stream that flowed slowly but steadily beneath the bridge.

"Are you sure this is safe, Alex?" she asked, staying up by the side of the bridge, her hands against the brick.

"Course, I've done it tons of times," Alex replied, crouching down beside the stream. Pulling up her sleeve, she put her hand it the water. A shiver traveled down her spine suddenly, feeling as though she had plunged her hand into a bucket of ice. But she didn't pull it out until she had a handful of rocks in it. She studied the stones carefully before calling Tea over.

"What is it?" the brunette asked, approaching slowly so as not to slip.

"Check this out," Alex replied, lifting something out of the handful. She promptly dropped everything else she had as she held the object out to Tea. "It's a shark tooth," she said. "You can find all sorts of cool shit down here."

Wide eyed, Tea took the tooth from her. It was long and skinny and had a brownish tint to it. She poked her skin gently with the tip and was surprised to find it was still razor sharp. As an unnerving thought entered her head, she frowned.

"Alex, where do these come from?"

She shrugged. "How should I know? I only collect them. It's not like I do research on them or anything. That takes brain power."

Tea laughed and crouched down next to Alex, who was digging through the rocks and shells again. "Do you want this back?" she asked, holding out the tooth.

Alex shook her head. "Nah, you keep it. I've got a ton and a half at home."

"Wow, thanks. Yugi will love to see this!" she said, searching for a pocket in her skirt.

Alex watched Tea struggle to figure out where to put her artifact out of the corner of her eye and sighed. She leaned over, took the tooth from her, and shoved it into one of the many pockets in her own pants. "I'll hold it for you until we get back. Just remind me about it cause I'll forget," she said, going back to her search.

"Okay," Tea replied, surprised. Alex was being _nice_ to her. Though she couldn't figure out why, she was glad. She hated to think that someone didn't like her. Maybe this was the start of an actual friendship between them.

"Hey, you seen one of these before?" Alex asked suddenly, holding up a large, reddish rock.

Tea shook her head. "Uh uh."

"It's whalebone. See how it's kinda porous? My guess is that it's part of the shoulder blade," she replied, leaning backwards to set the bone farther up on the hill.

"Wow, how do you know all this stuff?" Tea asked incredulously.

"Bakura's dad is an archeologist. I was finding all this shit and one day I brought him a few pieces and he told me what it was," she said. "It's not really his specialty, but somewhere along the line he must have learned something about it."

"That's awesome!" Tea said. She watched Alex sift through the shells and began to copy her, though she was unsure of what she was looking for.

After a few minutes, Alex decided to give Tea another small piece of information. She sat up and waved her hand at the row of shells that stretched along the bank of the stream. "You see this line of shells and stuff? That's called a Matrix Band. You wanna look for stuff around the Band cause when the water washes up over them, shark teeth and other stuff gets caught in the shells. You find the most around the Band." As an afterthought, she added almost sheepishly, "I did do a little research to find that out."

Tea grinned. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Despite herself, Alex chuckled. As amazing as the thought was, she was actually having fun with Tea. The two continued to search for artifacts for nearly two hours, Alex explaining what each piece they found was. After a while, Tea finally resigned to getting dirty and knelt on the wet ground. By the time they had finished, they had three fish vertebrae, numerous pieces of whalebone (many of them ribs), nine shark teeth, and two teeth from the throat of a drum fish. Alex stuffed everything she could into her pockets, but she had to leave a lot of the ribs behind because they were too big.

As they went to climb out from under the bridge, Tea suddenly found that going down was much easier than going back up, especially in platform shoes. Alex didn't seem to have any problem, since she was wearing the equivalent of hiking boots. Once she was at the top, though, she had to turn around to help Tea up.

"Jesus, come on, you gotta help me out here! I ain't Hercules!" she cried, struggling to pull Tea up.

"I'm try… Oh!" Tea shrieked as she slipped, falling flat on her stomach. "Oh this is a good shirt!" she complained, trying to get back on her feet.

"It isn't anymore," Alex replied, suppressing an eye roll. With one final yank, she managed to pull the brunette up, landing flat on her back. She stayed there for a minute to catch her breath, Tea lying beside her. "Well, that was fun," she said dryly after a second.

"Oh yeah," Tea replied sharply as she sat up. "Look at my clothes! I'm filthy!"

"Duh, so am I," Alex said, indicating her mud-splattered pants.

Tea sighed. "I have to get home. It's midnight and I need a shower now."

"All right, fine," Alex said, sitting up. "You want some of your stuff, or what?"

"Yeah, thanks," she said, remembering.

For the next fifteen minutes, they divided up what they found. Alex was able to shove her stuff back in her pockets, but Tea had no such luck. As the brunette stood, trying not to drop anything, Alex tried not to laugh.

_Next time wear pants,_ Alex thought as Tea said goodbye and turned to leave.

"See ya," Alex replied, also turning towards home. She shoved her hands into her pockets and started over the bridge.

Feeling better than she had earlier that evening, she inhaled deeply, enjoying the cool night air. Her hair blew back from her face as the wind gusted, and she lowered her head to shield her eyes. Though her conscience was calm, her sub-conscience was still restless. As she walked, she tried to keep her mind empty and concentrate on the beauty of the night, but she had no such luck. Her desire to have Bakura there beside her forced it's way to her and she found her spirits falling fast. She couldn't help but wonder if he was still mad at her.

Suddenly, she shook her head sharply. "No, stop it, Alex. You're freaking out. It's gonna be fine. You'll see. Bakura will come around and when he does, Elsie will be out of the picture," she said firmly. "Why he'd even want to _think_ about that bitchy prep when he has me is crazy, but maybe he's just trying to be nice. He _is_ a nice guy after all. Once he finds out that Elsie is playing him like a violin, he'll drop her. He'll know that I was right all along and he'll come back. All I have to do is wait. It shouldn't take long for Miss Triple B 1 to get bored with him."

Alex stopped short, realizing that she was talking to herself. Despite the fact that it was midnight, she glanced around to make sure no one had overheard her. The streets were dark and, except for the trees that danced in the wind, there was no movement to be seen. Breathing in relief, she continued home.

As she neared her house, she hoped Jade hadn't gotten scared and called the cops. Alex doubted it since she had been out this late before, but not since she'd met Bakura. She supposed at this point anything was possible.

She sighed as she headed up her driveway to her front porch. Though she'd much rather stay outside, she opened the door and stepped into the hallway. Throwing her jacket onto one of the coat-hooks by the door, she checked her watch. 12:32. She had to get up in four hours.

"Fantastic," she said, scowling. With a growl, she climbed the stairs quietly so as not to wake her brother.

Jade had gone to sleep apparently and, though Alex was glad she didn't have to deal with her, there was a part of her that wondered why her sister hadn't been worried about her. She supposed Jade wouldn't really care if something happened to her. With a shrug, Alex closed the door to her room and turned on her light.

Yawning, she pulled her shirt off and tossed it across the room. She paused a minute, realizing that her reckless habit of throwing her clothes around was probably the reason why she couldn't find half of them. But she was too tired to care right now so she finished changing, continuing the way she had before.

After she turned out her light, she dropped onto her bed, sudden drowsiness washing over her. She slid under her covers and, with a tired snarl, turned on her alarm clock. Then, she lowered her head to her pillow and fell asleep almost instantly.

000

"David? David where are you?" Alex called into the darkness. The wind was whipping her hair around her face, leaving red marks where the strands slapped her cheeks. She was walking down the street near the woods, the leaves rustling furiously. A storm was on the way.

_"David!" Where was he? Her stomach felt like she had swallowed bricks and her heart was pounding in her throat. Why couldn't she find him?_

_She picked up her pace to a run, sudden fear pulsing through her. The rhythmic beat of her feet on the asphalt matched her quickening pulse and her breathing became rapid. She had to find him._

_Find him before it's too late._

_Then, she saw something in the distance. "David!" she cried desperately, wanting the shape to be him. But something was wrong._

_The shape turned sharply to her and she stopped short, gasping for breath. As she watched, the person spun around and disappeared into the trees._

_"Hey!" Alex called, chasing after him. But as she approached the spot where the man had once stood, she saw something else. Something was lying on the ground._

_No. Someone._

_Alex skidded to a halt a few feet away from the motionless figure on the side of the road. Her heart seemed to have stopped as she slowly stepped closer. Something was deathly wrong with the person on the ground._

_"David…" she whispered, her voice a mere croak._

_As she moved to the boy's side, she finally got a good look at her little brother. Her mouth dropped open immediately as a shrill scream sliced through the air._

David's eyes were frozen in a glassy upward stare, his lips parted in what looked like fright. Blood was pooled around his head and matted throughout his hair. All Alex could do was scream.

000

"_David!_" Alex shrieked, sitting bolt upright. Her bangs were plastered to her forehead and sweat covered her body. Her breathing was rapid as she rocked back and forth, slowly realizing it had been a dream.

"No… no… it was a dream… David…" Alex hissed, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to forget her nightmare.

Suddenly, her door burst open. "Alex! What's wrong?"

She snapped her head up to see Jade and David run to her side. "I… I just had a nightmare… that's all," she said, trying to stop shaking.

"You yelled my name, what happened?" David asked, concern on his face.

Alex shook her head, attempting to shove away the dream image of her brother. "Nothing. I'm fine now. Just a bad dream. I promise."

"Are you sure?" Jade asked, her green eyes piercing Alex's dark ones.

"Yeah," Alex replied, inhaling deeply. "What time is it?"

Jade glanced at her watch. "Ten to six. Your alarm would have gone off pretty soon anyway, so it's just as well you're awake." She leaned over and shut off the alarm clock before turning back to her sister. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Alex nodded, glancing at David. "Yeah. For now."

00000

1 – Bitchy Blonde Bimbo

a/n: Whew… even I didn't know where this was going. Not the longest chapter ever, but still packed with action. Don't forget to review!


	10. Breakup

All Alex could think of through school that day was her dream. The teacher's voices hadn't registered at all; instead, they sounded more like the teacher in the cartoon _Charlie Brown. _She just drifted through the day on automatic pilot, staring out into space as she tried to decipher her dream.

All she could see when she closed her eyes was Daniel's face, his glassy eyes staring blankly up at her, the blood oozing around him. But it wasn't real. No… it wasn't real at all. When she woke up Daniel was right by her side alive and well. She had touched him, felt the fact that he was there. It was just a dream. Right? So, then, why couldn't she shake it off as just a dream? Why did the images keep haunting her? And why was there a sinking feeling in her stomach again?

_Stop it Alex, you're being stupid. What do you think it was, some sort of premonition? That's ridiculous. Get a grip. You're goin' to fail this quiz if you don't pay attention, now CONCENTRATE!_ The last word blared in her mind like someone had screamed in her ear and she jumped, glancing around for the speaker. It took her a few seconds to realize that it had only been her thoughts and, feeling stupid, she bent back over the pop quiz her math teacher had just handed out. With a sigh, she started reading the questions, though her mind was slowly drifting away again.

The next thing Alex recognized of reality was the bell. Surprised, she glanced down at the quiz that she had somehow completed and handed it forward, hoping that Bakura's math tips had sunk in on some level of her subconscious.

Bakura.

He had just passed her in the hall with Elsie and didn't even say hi. Alex turned to watch them walk away and suddenly felt like crying. He had to have seen her, right? It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense anymore. Right then, as Alex just stood in the hallway with students shoving past her, she felt like the loneliest person in the world.

She snapped back into reality as an old but familiar urge surfaced in her stomach. It had been years since she'd felt it, but there was no mistaking what it was. She knew she shouldn't give in to it, but it was stronger than she thought she'd ever felt it. After fighting with herself for a few more seconds, she started to the bathroom.

The whole way there her heart pounded in anticipation. Her head was screaming for her not to do this, but she ignored it, the sudden desire growing with each step. By the time she reached the bathroom and locked herself in a stall, she was shaking.

_Don't Alex. Don't do this. Things aren't that bad. They'll get better. Put it away Alex…_ she told herself as she slipped her hand into her pocket. She closed her eyes and dropped her backpack to the floor as she felt the smooth surface of what was once an object she couldn't live without. True, she had used it a few times in front of Jade to scare her, but her sister had never known the real reason she still kept it in her pocket. It was like a security blanket to her now. She kept it just for occasions like this. Occasions when she needed it more than she needed air.

Occasions like after her parents died.

No one had known then. No one had known what she did every day while she recovered from the traumatic moment she witnessed. No one had ever seen the scars.

With a trembling hand, Alex slid her penknife out of her pocket and popped the blade out. She opened her eyes and stared at it, running her thumb slowly along its edge. Breathing deeply, she pushed her sleeve up to her elbow and looked at the scars that had finally begun to disappear.

Alex, you can't do this, her conscience said again. But she'd gone to far to turn back now and all of her knew it. Slowly, she pressed the blade to the top of her forearm and, as though the last time she'd done was yesterday, she easily slid the edge across her skin. Immediately, blood began to ooze out of the cut. The sight of the blood struck something inside her and she sank onto the toilet seat, breathing deeply. This was different than cutting her arm every once in a while to scare Jade. This was the addiction. This was what she had worked so hard to defeat three years ago. And now, like a fool, she had triggered it again. Guilt and regret began to flood through her, mixing with the exhilaration. 

She shouldn't have done this.

"Shit," she whispered, folding the blade back into the knife and sliding it into her pocket. She listened carefully for anyone who may have been in the bathroom, and after assessing that she was alone, she opened the door.

She quickly made her way to the sink and cleaned her cut, the water stinging it slightly. She didn't use soap because she knew from experience that it would hurt like hell. Once had been enough for her to learn that. After a few seconds, she turned off the water; the fresh cut beginning to bleed again immediately.

With a sigh, she made her way back into the stall to her backpack and unzipped it. She rummaged through it, pushing aside her books and crumpling loose papers, looking for the spare ace bandage she had never taken out of her bag. It was all the way on the bottom and as Alex pulled it out, the clip came loose and fell back among her things.

"Dammit!" she exclaimed, glancing at the line of blood traveling swiftly down her arm. "Shit." After a few more seconds of digging for the clasp, she finally found it and pulled it out. By the time she managed to wrap her arm, her cut looked as though she hadn't cleaned it at all and her left had was covered with blood.

For a moment, she merely stared at the dingy, red bandage, watching as a new stain slowly soaked into it. Suddenly, she shook herself out of her trance and zipped up her backpack. Slinging it over one shoulder, she stood and walked back over to the sink. With a glance at her watch, she rinsed off her hand before leaving the bathroom.

As she walked down the hall, she debated whether or not she wanted to go to lunch. She wouldn't have much time and certainly not enough time to eat, but she decided to go anyway. She wanted to see just how close Elsie and Bakura were getting. The way they had passed her in the hall had unnerved her.

She entered the cafeteria two minutes later and immediately spotted her boyfriend sitting alone at a table with the competition. Though Bakura looked like he was having a normal conversation (of course, that could have also been wishful thinking), the way Elsie was looking… no, gazing… at him was infuriating. Alex made her presence well known as she walked over and dropped onto the bench beside Bakura, glaring at Elsie.

"Alex!" Bakura said, surprised as she wrapped her arm around him. "I was wondering where you'd gotten to."

"Math teacher wanted to talk to me," she replied, shrugging. She ignored the sudden pang of guilt that hit her stomach and tried to convince herself that lying was the best for both of them.

"Really? About what?" Elsie asked, looking at her quizzically.

Alex laughed sharply. "How the hell would I know? It's not like I actually _listen_ when they talk."

"How do you keep your grades up?" she asked, horrified.

"I don't."

At this, Elsie's jaw dropped open. "What does your mother say?"

"My _mother_ doesn't give a flying…" Alex retorted, but Bakura cut her off.

"Ahhh… well, her mother isn't very strict," he said, laughing nervously. Alex began to pull away, but he wrapped his arm around her tightly. He smiled at her, but his eyes stated clearly that he was still angry.

"Oh… well, what about your father? Doesn't he care whether you're failing?" Elsie asked, confused.

"Can we not talk about my parents?" Alex snapped, glaring her. "I'm not failing anything except for math and that doesn't matter."

"Of course it does!" Elsie replied. "Every subject is important!"

Alex opened her mouth to speak, her eyes blazing, but Bakura interrupted. "Elsie let it drop."

She nodded, shrinking slightly. "Sorry, it's just that I'm used to having to make good grades for my parents."

"Yeah, well, not everyone's that stuck up that all they care about is what their parents think of them," Alex blurted out. _Bitch, how dare you come between Bakura and me. How dare you make me go back to an old habit!_

A hurt expression crossed Elsie's face and her crystal eyes began to water. "I…" she tried, but she couldn't get anything else out. With a tiny sob, she got up from the table and ran out of the cafeteria.

Alex hadn't expected her to react that way. She had thought Elsie would have snapped back with some half-witted remark like she usually did. Running away in tears was the last thing that the prep should have done. And yet, she did.

Alex was yanked out of her thoughts as Bakura grabbed her arm sharply and pulled her off the bench towards the doors that led outside. His grip didn't loosen and he didn't look at her as he stalked to the doors.

"Bakura! Bakura… you're hurting me!" Alex said, prying at his fingers. Why did she suddenly feel like a week little girl? She should be fighting back! She should knock him out! How _dare_ he grab her like that! And yet, she just let him drag her outside, struggling to keep up with him like a dog that had just been caught chewing on a shoe.

Once outside, Bakura finally let go of her. But before Alex could move, he rounded on her, his dark eyes flashing with anger. All she could do was stare at him, her heart pounding in sudden fear.

"What the hell did you do that for?" he cried, glaring daggers at her.

"What? I didn't mean…" she tried.

"_She ran away crying, Alex!_ How could you do that? After our conversation last night I thought you understood!"

Something inside her snapped and she found herself yelling back at him. "How could_ I_ do that? How could _you_ do that? You passed me in the god damn hall and didn't even _look_ at me!" she shrieked.

"When did I do that?" Bakura cried.

"Just today! Between classes! You were walking with the bimbo and you just passed me without even saying hi!" The way she was screaming at him and acting made her feel like a little girl who wasn't getting her way, but she couldn't make herself stop. Both fear and pride were arguing with each other and pride was winning. It would prove to be a fatal mistake.

Bakura's eyes flashed dangerously. "I'm tired of you calling her names. And I'm tired of you telling me who I can be friends with."

"I'm warning you that she's a bitch! I'm trying to get you to see sensibly! But you won't listen!" Alex pleaded desperately.

"Why won't _you_ listen? I'm telling you I want to do this and you don't care! All you care about is your tough image! Well, let me tell you something, Alex! That 'image' was destroyed when you first started associating with me!" he cried.

Anger now began building inside her quickly pushing away the fear of what Bakura might do should she say the wrong thing. "No! I know why you're refusing to listen to me! It's because you don't want to know that she's screwing you over! You still like her don't you? Now that she's coming onto you, you're just going to ditch me for her! It's your dream come true! The way you look at her just _screams_ the fact that you want to go screw her!" Alex immediately regretted that once she saw the look on Bakura's face. "I…" she said quietly, struggling to apologize.

Bakura just stared blankly at her for what seemed like hours. His vacant gaze made Alex shake with nervousness. She couldn't believe what she had just said and wished sincerely she could take it back.

When Bakura finally did speak, it was with a calm, cool tone. "This isn't working Alex. I think we'd better split." Without another word, he walked past her back through the doors.

Alex just stared at the doors, her lip trembling as she tried not to let the tears that were welling up in her eyes stream down her face. He had broken up with her. They weren't a couple anymore. She had lost him because of her own stupidity. How could she have been so stupid?

"Dammit!" she shrieked, unable to control herself anymore. She dropped to her knees and buried her face in her hands, crying harder than she ever had in her life. "Bakura…" she sobbed. "I'm sorry… please… come back! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! Please…!"

Suddenly, her tears stopped and she stood, digging into her pocket. She sniffed and wiped her cheeks with her free hand, her broken heart pounding. A few seconds later she was lying on the ground crying again, blood streaming down her arms. Inside the school, she heard the bell ring but she didn't get up. Who cared about classes anymore? Without Bakura, she was nothing. He was the one who saved her life and now she had gone and destroyed what they had. How could she have done that? How could she have been so stupid?

"I'm sorry…" she kept repeating, her voice strained. "Please… come back… come back… I need you… Bakura…" Tears were pouring back into her hair and her eyeliner was running but she didn't care. Now, more than ever before she wanted to die. Her life was ruined and it was her fault.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! 

"Oh _god_ please let this all be a dream! I love him! _I love him!_" she screamed. "Don't take him away! I'm sorry! I'll never do it again! Please don't take him away from me! I need him! I need you, Bakura! Come back…!"

"Alex!"

Alex was crying too hard to notice that Tea had come outside. All she knew was that it wasn't Bakura. Nothing else mattered.

"Alex!" Tea cried, running to her friend's side. "Oh my god, what happened to you? You're bleeding! Oh, Alex, what happened?"

"Let me die, Tea… please…" Alex moaned, unable to stop the tears.

"What?" Tea exclaimed, horrified. "Alex, please! What happened! Oh _god_ you have to see the nurse!"

"No… I don't want to see anyone except Bakura…"

"Bakura?" By this time, Tea was near tears too. "_What happened?_ Please, tell me! You're bleeding! Oh, what happened?"

"He… broke up…" Alex choked, trying desperately to stop crying.

"What? Why would he break up with you, Alex? Alex, why are you bleeding so badly?"

"I can't stand it anymore, Tea!" she cried suddenly, sitting up quickly. "He doesn't understand why I don't want him around Elsie! He thinks she's changed! She's a prep! She can't change anything except boyfriends! She's playing him I know it! He doesn't see it and he won't listen to anything I say! It's all that bitch's fault! I don't know why she even wants to have anything to do with him! And… and I just got mad and said stuff that I shouldn't have said and he broke up with me! He said that it wasn't working and… oh Tea I just want to die! So, I cut up my arms with my knife, but you can't tell anyone because no one knows. Jade would go out and put me on medication and I don't want any Prozac or Wellbutrin, I just want Bakura!"

Tea pulled Alex into a tight hug as her friend burst into tears again. Alex didn't resist; instead, she welcomed the hug. She needed it.

"I'll talk to him, Alex. He doesn't want to break up with you I know he doesn't. Just let me talk to him. And _please_ don't hurt yourself. Bakura would just die if anything happened to you," Tea said, feeling her heart break for her.

"You can't tell him what I did!" Alex said suddenly, pulling away and trying to hide her arms. "You can't tell anyone! If you do, I'll make your life miserable!"

Tea looked hurt as she replied. "No, I won't tell anyone this time. But if you do it again… I'll have to. I don't want to see you get hurt. You're my friend."

Alex nodded, silently resigning to lying to Tea now too. There was no way she could live without Bakura and stay sane. Tea had to know that. "Just… just don't tell him I was crying. No one can know. This whole conversation never happened, okay?" she said, wiping away her tears, finally able to control herself.

Tea nodded quietly, looking down at her friend's arms. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

She helped Alex up and led her back into the empty cafeteria. They walked in silence down the hallways to the bathroom without running into a single person. As they entered the bathroom, Alex was struck with confusion.

"Tea, why aren't you in class?"

"I saw you and Bakura go outside and he looked pretty mad. When he came back in and you didn't, I thought something was wrong. I was right," she said grimly. Alex allowed her to clean her cuts and bandage them without flinching or pulling away.

There was an awkward silence between the girls as Tea tended to her friend. Alex didn't know what to say; Bakura was the only one who had ever treated her so nicely. Bakura and David.

_Shit… That's what I need to be thinking about right now,_ she thought bitterly as she remembered her horrible dream.

"Alex, are you all right?" Tea asked, concern in her eyes.

"What?" Alex asked, snapping back into reality. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Are you done?"

"Yeah," Tea replied. "That should be good."

"Thanks," she muttered, pulling her sleeves down and looking at the floor. "I appreciate this."

"What are friends for?" the brunette replied softly. "Remember, if you ever want to talk, I'm here. And I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to. Just, please don't hurt yourself anymore. You really scared me when I came outside to find you bleeding all over the place."

Alex nodded. "Yeah, I won't. You'd better get to class. You don't want the teachers to think you actually skipped."

"What about you?"

"I'm going home. I can't stand any more today. And the last thing I want to see right now is Bakura with Elsie."

Tea nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, I understand. If anyone asks I'll tell them you were sick and had to leave."

"Thanks." Alex was surprised at Tea's offer to cover for her, but glad nonetheless. She supposed the brunette wasn't as bad as she had originally thought, though she still wished that she'd actually put on some clothes. However, Tea's clothes were the last thing on her mind right now as she thanked her for her kindness.

The two said goodbye a few minutes later and set off in opposite directions. Alex glanced at her watch, wondering what she would do for the next three and a half hours. She didn't really want to go home, but she didn't feel like going anywhere else either. With a sigh, she left the school and headed down the street.

After a while of walking, Alex decided that the park was probably her best bet. No one would ask any questions at least. It was quiet and peaceful, exactly what she wanted right now. So, that was where she went.

There weren't many people there, which made it all the better. Alex slid down the trunk of a tree and closed her eyes, allowing herself to get lost in the cool breeze. The temperature was perfect and slowly she began to drift off…

000

"Alex?" 

_She jumped and looked up, squinting against the sun. She wasn't able to clearly see the speaker until he sat down beside her. "What are you doing here?" she asked, genuinely surprised._

_"I was walking home from the arcade. I have to pass the park to get home. You said you'd be here, so I thought I'd stop by. You don't mind, right?" Bakura asked._

_"Nah, you can chill with me," Alex said, leaning her head back against the tree. Maybe she really should be giving him a chance. After all, he was the only one who had ever stuck by her for so long despite her cold attitude towards him. Anyone else would have given up long ago. But not him. She should give him a chance._

_Bakura smiled, his eyes glittering in the sun. He looked so relaxed as he leaned back against the tree with her. Alex hadn't thought anyone could possibly be relaxed with her… but he was. After a few seconds, he pointed to the book in her lap._

_"What's that?"_

_"It's a book," Alex retorted automatically. She expected Bakura to become a little agitated at her short answer, but he didn't._

_"What's it about?" he asked, calm as ever._

_"It's not," she said, feeling a little unsure of herself now. She wasn't sure if she wanted to show him. After all, it was really only a stupid hobby passed down through the generations. What did it matter?_

_"What do you mean?" Bakura asked, confused._

_She didn't answer right away, but he waited. After a second, she turned her head toward him and looked into his kind eyes. He was completely focused on her as if nothing else around them mattered. Alex hadn't thought anyone would ever find her that interesting or compelling. And yet, somehow she found him interesting as well. There was just something about him that made her believe that she could trust him._

_So, she let the book fall open. Between each of the pages was a pressed flower or leaf. Her mother had passed the book down to her and for some reason Alex felt like she had to finish it._

_Bakura leaned over her shoulder to see and his eyes widened. "This is your hobby?" he asked softly._

_Nervous, Alex shut the book quickly. "Keep your insults to yourself," she snapped._

_"No… I think it's great," Bakura said, surprised at her reaction. Alex looked at him in shock, her jaw threatening to drop. "Can I see?" he asked._

_Stunned, Alex handed him the book and watched in confusion as he flipped through the pages. He actually seemed interested in it. She couldn't wrap her mind around that._

_"It must have taken you a long time to get all of these," he said after a while._

_"Yeah, it did," she agreed._

_"You don't have many more pages left," Bakura observed, handing the book back to her._

Alex took it and set it back in her lap. "I don't have many more days of nice weather left either…" 

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a/n: Wow, another long chapter. Well, hope you liked it. I'll update again soon, but don't forget to review!


	11. Breaking Point

Alex woke up to find her cheeks wet. She had a few seconds of nervousness as she tried to figure out where she was. As she looked around quickly, she touched her face to find that the wetness was her own tears. Slowly, she realized where she was. It was dark now, with no moon or stars to shed any light over the park. Rubbing her eyes, she remembered what had happened. And she remembered her dream.

"Dammit. Why does everything have to happen to me?" Alex asked aloud as she stood up. She sighed and began to move away from the park towards her house.

Curious, she checked her watch. 7:58. She did a double take, unable to believe she had really slept that long. Well, she really did need it. After her nightmare about David, she hadn't slept well at all. She had almost been afraid to close her eyes for fear that she'd have the dream again. The last thing she wanted to see was her brother in a pool of his blood.

Alex walked home in dazed state, wishing that she could just disappear on the spot and reappear in her bed. Even though she had slept all afternoon, she was still beyond tired. Her brain was already asleep and she was just working on automatic pilot, her body just continuing with the movements of walking home on its own.

When she finally did get home, she immediately started up the stairs. However, she heard something that made her stop. As she listened closely, she heard her sister's voice. Jade sounded upset about something, and Alex's curiosity got the better of her. She quietly went upstairs to her room and shut the door, locking it. Her phone was on the end table by the bed, and she silently picked it up, careful to do it slowly so Jade wouldn't hear it.

"Richard, this is the third time in a row you've canceled. What's going on?" Jade asked.

Alex frowned. She hadn't known there were problems in her sister's relationship too. She had never listened in on a conversation of Jade's before, but there was really nothing else to do right now and this sounded interesting. So, remaining silent, she stayed on the line as Richard spoke.

"I'm just busy right now. Look, I have to go, okay?" he said quickly. There was a muffled sound on his end and Alex immediately knew what was going on. Fury raged through her as she continued to listen, clenching her fists.

"Why? I haven't talked to you in ages. What's so important that you can't talk to me?" Jade said, sounding slightly distressed.

"I'm just really busy! Okay, look I'll call you later, all right? I'm in the middle of something right now," Richard said exasperatedly.

Jade sighed, annoyed. "Yeah, fine. Will you have time to talk for more than five minutes?" she snapped.

"I promise. I gotta' go!"

"Fine." Without another word, Jade hung up.

Alex did shortly after, seething with hatred. The idea of cheating was so fresh in her mind that she couldn't keep the thoughts out of her head. Of course, she didn't know for sure, but just from that conversation, Alex was 99.9 percent sure of it. Richard definitely wanted to get off the phone.

_Maybe Bakura's been hanging out with Richard,_ she thought bitterly. Immediately, she bit her tongue, a pang of guilt hitting her stomach hard. Her eyes were beginning to water again as she thought about Bakura and she reminded herself that it wasn't his fault. It was hers. She was the one that was stupid enough to break it off. How could she have been so dumb?

Suddenly Alex didn't feel so mad about Richard anymore. Who cared if Jade got hurt? Alex had warned her sister against that good-for-nothing guy long before she had even started dating him. Just dessert, right? Besides, it's not like Jade would care that Alex and Bakura were over. She'd probably laugh. Jade loved to see Alex miserable.

"Fuck!" Alex screamed suddenly, snatching her pillow off her bed. She threw it as hard as she could against the far wall, where it hit with a dull _thump_ before sliding down to the floor. She didn't know what to do. Everything was so confusing now. All she wanted to do was sleep. She hadn't eaten dinner, but she wasn't hungry. Her arms burned dully and she collapsed to her bed, fighting tears again. She hated crying. She had to stop.

"God dammit Alex! Stop crying you fucking bitch!" she scolded herself through clenched teeth. She took a deep breath and stood slowly to get her pillow from across the room. As she tossed it back to the bed, she sniffed back tears. Trying to distract herself from her thoughts, she changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed.

With a sigh, she pulled the blankets all the way up to her chin before reaching over to the lamp on her bed table and turning it off. Then, she snuggled as deep into her bed as humanly possible and buried her face in her pillow. How she could still be so tired after sleeping all day was beyond her, but maybe emotional stress wears you out. Even though she was so tired, in the comfort of the darkness her pillowcase began to dampen.

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The next day at school, Bakura didn't even look at Alex. They passed each other in the halls and in class many times, and even though she knew he _had_ to be aware of the fact that she stared at him during every second, he completely ignored her. It was like she had suddenly become invisible. Only Tea greeted her that morning, and Alex only nodded before hurrying away in embarrassment. She had never been so humiliated in her life.

She had never been so afraid to run into the preps before either. It seemed that in those measly twenty-four hours the entire school knew about her and Bakura's breakup. Once again, everyone was looking at her strangely and sympathetically. Alex despised those looks more than Elsie Bridges. Alex didn't need anyone's sympathy. She could handle a pathetic breakup. It wasn't like she hadn't been through them before. Of course, usually she was the dumper, not the dumped. And those looks didn't help at all. And neither did those fucking preps.

Lunch was the worst period. That was when Rita got her real chance to humiliate Alex. And she jumped on it like a mouse on cheese.

While Bakura was sitting near the cafeteria doors with Elsie, Alex was sitting alone on the other side of the room. She wasn't hungry, so she was mostly just playing with the mozzarella on her pizza. It was too greasy to really be appetizing anyway. About five minutes into lunch, a shadow was cast over her and she looked up into the coldest eyes she had ever had the misfortune of staring into.

Rita Burdock smirked down at her, flanked by her three cronies. Her green eyes flashed with entertainment and the thought of revenge on a crime unknown to Alex. "Sitting alone? I would have thought you'd be with your darling Bakura," she said, staring a hole through her opponent.

"Get away from me you slut," Alex snarled.

"It seems like the lovebirds have flown in different directions," Darcy laughed. The rest of them giggled as they surrounded Alex on the bench.

"Mmmm, Elsie's really outdone herself this time. Going out with a half pint like Bakura," Rita said, purposely throwing wood on the fire.

Alex's eyes blazed, but she bit her tongue, knowing that Rita was looking to get a rise out of her. She didn't want her to get any satisfaction out of this. Alex could stay strong, right?

"Yeah, but wasn't she telling Miranda how good a kisser he was this morning?" Brittany asked, looking at her friends.

It was more than Alex could handle. She grabbed at the girl nearest to her, who happened to be Julie, and pulled her off the bench and onto the floor. Immediately all four girls and others nearby began to shriek in terror as Alex pinned the prep down, letting her have it in the face over and over again. There was a snap and she knew she had broken Julie's nose, but she couldn't stop. She just kept bringing her fist down again and again. Blood was streaming down the prep's face, mingling with frightened tears as she screamed for help. But her friends were too scared to do anything but huddle together and scream.

By the time people managed to pry Alex away from Julie, she was unconscious. Alex was still kicking and fighting to lash out at anyone she could hit, and it took a good number of the senior guys to hold her, as well as a teacher. She knew she was in big trouble as Julie was taken to the nurse's office while she was escorted to the principal's. Jade was called in for a meeting that afternoon.

0000000000000000

"I don't know what to do Miss. Moore. Alex has shown violent behavior towards other students in the past and her records of expulsion don't impress me. Julie Walters is in the hospital being treated for a broken nose. The only reason her mother isn't pressing charges is that she doesn't have the funds. If you don't do something to change the way your child is behaving, the school is going to have to take action. This can't continue," Principal Daniels said to Jade.

Alex slouched in her chair with her arms folded, glaring back and forth between her sister and the principal, seriously considering saying something about the way they were talking about her as though she wasn't there. However, as Jade spoke, Alex decided to stay silent for the moment.

"Mr. Daniels, I don't know what happened today. Alex hasn't acted like this in months. I thought she'd finally learned how to control her emotions. Trust me, this will be the last problem you will have with her. I'll make sure of that. I think it's time for her to get some help."

"_What?_" Alex shrieked, sitting up. "What do you mean _help?_ I'm not seeing another shrink!"

"Alex," Mr. Daniels said. "Why did you get in the fight today? What instigated it?"

Alex glared at him for a second, trying to choose her words wisely. At the time it had all seemed like a reasonable reaction, but she knew that if she told an adult that she had punched out a girl because she had talked badly about her ex-boyfriend, it would sound ridiculous.

"She and her friends wouldn't leave me alone. They've been taunting and teasing me for months and it just got to be too much," Alex said. It was true enough.

"You think taunting equals putting Julie in the hospital?" Mr. Daniels asked, raising his eyebrows.

"If you understood the whole story, you'd agree with me," Alex said, folding her arms again.

"Please, enlighten me."

"Yes, Alex. Please do," Jade agreed, her eyes sharp.

Alex was silent, her dark eyes glaring at those around her. Finally, becoming embarrassed as she realized how stupid she would sound if she actually told them what was going on, she said, "You wouldn't understand."

"Try us," the principal said patiently.

"How about not," Alex snapped, pushing anger forward to hide her humiliation.

Mr. Daniels sighed. "Miss. Moore, I'm afraid I have to suspend her for a month. Maybe during that time she will be able to get the proper help to calm her down and get her focusing more on school than physical interaction."

Jade nodded. "All right. This won't happen again. I'm terribly sorry for all of this. I sincerely hope Julie is okay and please express my deepest apologies to her mother. I appreciate your understanding," she said as she and Alex stood.

"Will do. I hope, for everyone's sake, that Alex is able to get some help," Mr. Daniels said, also standing as he shook Jade's hand. Then, the sisters turned to leave.

School was just getting out and as they exited the front doors, Alex spotted Bakura and Elsie looking over at her from a distance. They were walking home and the look in Bakura's eyes was immensely unsettling. Alex glared fiercely at him, unsure of why she stuck up for him in the first place. They were, after all, separated. Who cared if he kissed Elsie?

Alex sighed as she got into the car. Neither she nor Jade spoke the entire way home.

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a/n: Whew, heavy chapter. Wonder what'll happen next? Tune in next time to find out… but you have to review first!


	12. Therapy

"Alex, come downstairs please," her sister called.

Alex sighed, knowing this wasn't going to be good. She and Jade hadn't spoken since the meeting with the school principle three days ago. Alex was partly glad for that, but the way her sister was constantly on the phone with unknown people unnerved her. Deep inside she was dreading what Jade was calling her downstairs for.

However, she got off her bed and left her room, keeping a hard look in her eyes. As she descended the steps, she saw Jade take a seat on the couch in the living room. She gestured her sister over, and, scowling, Alex obeyed. Though, she sat as far to the other end of the couch as humanly possible, glaring dangerously at Jade.

"What?" she asked harshly.

"Alex, I want you to know that what I'm doing right now is for your own good. I want to help you. That's why I've made an appointment with Dr. Marrelle for you. She's one of the best therapists in the area and I think she'll really be able to help you. I hear that she has had a lot of success with teens in the past," Jade explained carefully, trying hard not to upset her sister too much. But her effort was in vain.

Alex exploded immediately. "What the hell?" she shrieked. "No way I'm going to see a shrink, no way! I've tried that before remember? It didn't help then and it won't help now. What do you think has changed? Nothing, that's what. I'm as twisted now as I was then. Nothing will help, especially not some fucked up shrink who thinks she knows me from ten minutes of analysis."

Jade sighed. "Your appointment is Saturday morning at ten. You're going even if I have to drag you there myself. You need help, Alex. I wish you would let me help you, but you won't even give me the time of day. If I am going to really do my job as your older sister, I have to get you some therapy. A lot of difficult things have happened to you and I just want to see you happy."

"I'll never be happy on this Earth. Everyone on the planet is scum! The only one who stands a chance of being someone worth something is David. He could be someone great. But everyone else can go to hell!" Alex screamed, standing suddenly.

She glared down at Jade for a few seconds, breathing heavily. All her sister could do was stare back, her green eyes welling up with tears at the hatred that Alex was emitting. Jade wanted so badly to help her, but she didn't know how at all. She hoped more than anything that Dr. Marrelle would be able to work with her. Alex needed so much help.

"I understand how you feel," Jade said softly.

Alex snorted and spun on her heel. She rounded the corner and darted up the stairs, down the hall, and into her room. Slamming the door as hard as she could, she gave a frustrated yell. "God damn you, Jade! Go to hell!" she screamed at the door. She yelled again as she threw herself facedown onto her bed, burying her face in her pillow.

For a few minutes, she just lay there, breathing heavily. _Calm down. Don't let the bitch win,_ she told herself. Slowly, she began to calm down, her breathing muffled by the pillow. When she started to feel the oxygen deprivation, she rolled over and sat up. Though she was still furious, she was at least able to think rationally now. She didn't need a shrink. But she supposed that unless she came down with some fatal disease, Jade was going to make her go. Alex would just have to suck it up.

_God dammit._

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The week went slowly now that she didn't have to go to school. She just lounged around and watched TV or listened to music while she surfed the Internet. She had plenty of time to wonder just what Bakura was doing with Elsie and whether Tea had spoken to him or not. Had he and Elsie really kissed? Or was Brittany just making things up to annoy her? Alex didn't care. She didn't regret beating Julie up. She felt good about it. Maybe now they would think twice before messing with her.

When Saturday finally came, Alex tried to oversleep. However, Jade wouldn't hear of it. At eight-thirty, she came in and made sure that her sister was out of bed before she left and let her change. Before Alex knew it, she and Jade were in the car and heading towards Dr. Marrelle's office. David had spent the night at a friend's, so he wouldn't be home until much later, which was good for the sisters. Or at least Jade anyway.

The drive was made in silence, Alex glaring out the passenger window the entire way. When they finally got out of the car at Dr. Marrelle's, she slammed the door hard. She felt Jade's glare, but ignored it. Deep inside she wished that she actually _had_ shattered the window just for revenge. She couldn't believe she was once again entering the office of a therapist. She thought that had ended years ago.

Jade went up to the front desk and checked in while Alex dropped into a seat. When the receptionist glanced at her and smiled, she just scowled back. It didn't seem to deter the woman though, and Jade returned to Alex and sat beside her. A few minutes later, she was called in.

Dr. Marrelle wanted to talk to both sisters for the first five minutes. Alex was surprised when she saw the doctor. She had pictured an old lady with her hair up in a bun and glasses, but Dr. Marrelle was young. Her brown hair rested on her shoulders and her eyes were a friendly blue. However, her kind look didn't do much for Alex's attitude. She still didn't want to talk to her.

Dr. Marrelle stood as the sisters entered her office and closed the door behind them. "Hi, it's nice to meet you," she said, extending her hand towards Jade. "I'm Dr. Elizabeth Marrelle. Please, have a seat."

"Thank you," Jade replied, taking a seat. Alex dropped reluctantly into the chair beside her, folding her arms.

"So, I take it you're Alex?" Dr. Marrelle asked, smiling.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Duh."

Her sharp answer didn't faze the therapist as she turned to Jade. "So, why are you here? What are you hoping to accomplish by coming?"

"Well," Jade said, looking at Alex briefly. "Alex has been having trouble in school. She gets into fights and recently put a girl in the hospital. I'll admit that she has full reason to be troubled, but I think it's time she got help."

"What do you mean she has a reason to be troubled?" Dr. Marrelle asked, jotting some notes down. "I hope you don't mind that I take a few notes," she said.

"That's fine," Jade replied. Alex scowled. "Um… well, when Alex was thirteen, she witnessed our parents' death. It didn't appear to hurt her on the outside, but later her behavior changed in school and she lost her friends. She got into a lot of fights and got expelled. I transferred her to Domino High and so far she's been controlling herself better, but then she just got into another fight earlier this week and was suspended for a month."

"I see," Dr. Marrelle said, turning to Alex. "You witnessed your parents' death? God, what happened?"

"Dad was a drunk and he shot mom. Then he killed himself," Alex said shortly.

The doctor winced. "Ooh. How did you see that?"

"I was hiding on the stairs."

"Were you coming downstairs when you saw it or what?"

"No. I heard the fighting from my room and I went down the stairs and hid to see what was going on."

"I see. So, what do you hope to accomplish by coming here, Alex?"

"Nothing, I want to leave. I don't need any help," Alex snapped. Jade sighed.

"Okay, Jade, I think I'd like to have the rest of the time with Alex," Dr. Marrelle said.

"All right. Thank you," Jade said, standing. She left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

"So, Alex," Dr. Marrelle said, smiling softly. "Why don't you tell me why your sister feels you need to see me."

Alex sighed. "I got into a fight at school."

"And because you got into a fight, Jade wanted you to see a therapist?"

"That is what I said, isn't it?" she replied, aggravated.

"Okay. Why did you get into a fight?" Dr. Marrelle asked. She didn't seem to mind the look of annoyance on her patient's face as she continued to press.

"It's a long story," Alex said shortly. It was too embarrassing for her to tell. In her mind, it was all logical, but when she put it into words it just seemed stupid.

However, she should have known Dr. Marrelle wouldn't let it go at that. "I have time," she said.

Alex sighed. Somehow, she knew that the more she resisted this woman, the worse it was going to be for her. Despite her reluctance to say anything about the conflict of emotions inside her, she found herself speaking about them anyway. Everything in this room was, after all, confidential. No one else would hear about it.

"I don't know where to start," she said after a moment of thought. She knew her face was turning red, but the therapist made no indication that she saw it.

"How about at the beginning?" she suggested kindly.

"Duh," Alex replied sharply. "I'm trying to decide where the beginning _is_." She took a deep breath before finally starting. "Um… okay, I guess the beginning is that I was expelled from my old high school last year for getting into a lot of fights. That was after my parents died and I guess it really twisted me or something." She shrugged. "Whatever. So, I transferred to Domino High. My first day there, this guy, Bakura Ryou, comes over to me at lunch and starts acting all nice to me and stuff. I don't have many friends, so I pushed him away. But he didn't leave me alone. We had the same classes and he just wouldn't stay away from me. He was being nice to me in that unbelievably annoying way, you know?

"Um, well, I forget when I decided to actually hang out with him, but we wound up being friends. He's a lot different from me though. He's all innocent and sweet and I am… well… you can figure that out.

"Anyway, that's beside the point. Around Christmas, we started dating. Everything was cool and I was actually happy for once. But just recently, this prep, Elsie, came into the picture. Bakura had a crush on her when he first transferred to DHS. I don't exactly know what happened, but somehow Elsie was crying about getting in a fight with the other preps or something. Poor dear. Bakura took pity on her cause he's nice like that. But what he didn't understand was that Elsie isn't trustworthy. She's a bitch. And in the end, she cost us our relationship.

"I think Bakura's into her now and I got mad at him the other day. He broke up with me and he hasn't spoken to me since. The other day, the other preps, who Elsie is supposed to be mad at, came over to me and started bothering the shit out of me. They were saying stuff like someone said that Bakura kissed Elsie. I lost it and attacked. I broke the chick's nose and put her in the hospital. Big deal. So, I was suspended for a month. And that's why I'm here.

"I know you think this is stupid, which is why I didn't want to say anything. I mean, who ever heard of a girl punching out another one because they were talking shit about her ex? It's stupid. But what nobody understands is that he was the only one who _did_ understand me. He was the only one I had. He and my little brother were the only ones that cared about me. And that's that. So, that's why I was so pissed at Elsie. And that's why I got into the fight," Alex concluded. She avoided Dr. Marrelle's eyes, very aware of her burning face. She hadn't meant to say so much, but somehow it had all just spilled out.

"Do you really think Bakura and your brother are the only ones who care about you?" the doctor asked.

"Duh. Jade tries her hardest to make my life a living hell. I have a couple of friends I guess like Tea, but they don't get me. They're just acting nice so I don't kill myself or something," Alex replied, shrugging.

"Okay. But if Tea didn't care about you, why would she be nice so you wouldn't hurt yourself? Don't you think that if she didn't care, she wouldn't be bothered if you were hurt?"

Alex stared at her. "I don't think about that kind of shit. All I know is what I feel. And I don't feel like anyone cares. I feel betrayed and used and rejected. Nothing can change that. No one can change that."

"But Bakura did, didn't he? When he pursued you and was nice to you?" Dr. Marrelle argued.

Alex was starting to get confused. What was she trying to get at? "Exactly what are you trying to make me say?" she snapped, becoming nervous.

"I'm not trying to get you to say anything. I'm just trying to make you realize that maybe you have a few people all wrong. If Jade didn't care about you, she wouldn't have brought you here for help. So, I think you're more loved than you really know," Dr. Marrelle said.

Alex thought about it for a second, glancing around the room to avoid the doctor's eyes. Even though what she was saying made sense, Alex just had a hard time believing it was true. If people really cared, they wouldn't hurt her so badly. Every time she let someone in, it seemed, they hurt her eventually. Just like Bakura. Everything had been so perfect with him, but now he was gone. He really burned her, but she was going to make sure it never happened again. With each pain and heartbreak she endured, she built the wall up higher. Now the only one who was on the inside was David. It was going to stay that way for a long time.

Dr. Marrelle pulled her out of her thoughts as she told her that the session was over. "I hate to cut us short, but our time's up. I really think we made some progress today, though. For now, I'm not going to suggest medication, however, if things don't change and you don't start seeing a difference in the way you think, I might say that Prozac could help. However, that's not for a while. I figure I'll see you again at the same time next week. Sound good?" she asked, standing.

Alex shrugged as she got up. "I guess. You'll see me if I can't find a way out of it," she said, feeling unusually drained.

Dr. Marrelle laughed. "All right. I look forward to next week."

Alex raised her eyebrow as she left. "You're nuts, lady," she muttered under her breath as soon as she was out of earshot.

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Tea sighed as she changed her position on the couch. Even though the TV was on, she wasn't really watching it. Her mind was elsewhere, drifting around the same topic that it had been all week.

She remembered the shock she had felt when she heard screaming in the cafeteria last Tuesday. When she and the gang had spun around, she thought her heart would stop. The last thing Tea had expected to see was Alex ramming her fist into Julie.

"Alex!" she screamed, standing wide-eyed. Tristan and Joey immediately leapt up and ran over. But it took a few other guys as well to finally pry Alex off her victim.

Tea was almost in tears as she watched her friend thrash around and snarl at those holding her. Julie was still on the ground and she wasn't moving. The first thought that flashed through Tea's head was that Alex had accidentally killed her in her rage, and she suddenly felt faint. She dropped back down onto the bench, trying to control her breathing. Her vision began to blur from her panic, but through the darkness that seemed to close in around her, she saw Alex lash out and punch Tristan in the jaw, sending him backwards into a table.

"Tea, are you all right?" Yugi asked quietly, touching her shoulder.

"What?" she choked out, unable to take her eyes off the scene in front of her. Alex was being dragged out of the cafeteria, and Julie was soon taken out as well. The prep was still unconscious as she was carried through the doors, hanging limp in the arms of her boyfriend. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, swallowing.

Tea shook the memory away, realizing that her program had ended. Not that she had really even known what she was watching. She remembered the horrified look on Bakura's face as he watched his ex thrash against her captives. Elsie showed more expression when she saw Julie being carried out of the cafeteria, and Tea was almost positive she had started crying.

That's when she realized she had never talked to Bakura for Alex. He had been spending all his time with Elsie, so she had never really had a chance. But she knew that Alex had gotten in that fight because of him, so now she knew she had to _make_ time to talk to him. He had to understand what he was putting Alex through. Bakura didn't want to break up with her. Tea was sure of it.

Without thinking about what she was going to say once she had him on the line, she grabbed the phone from the end table and dialed his number. It only rang once before he answered.

"Bakura," she said, her stomach jumping with nervousness. What if she said something wrong and he got mad at her? "It's Tea."

"Oh, hi. How are you?" he asked cheerfully. He didn't appear to be in a down mood at all. How was it possible that he wasn't torn apart by seeing Alex so out of control?

"Um, not so good. I wanted to talk to you about something," Tea said, closing her eyes. _Breathe. You owe this to Alex, _ she told herself.

"Oh, okay. What is it?" He didn't sound nervous or worried at all.

Tea was silent for a moment. She had run into a rock that she didn't know how to move. Where should she start? "Well," she choked out, trying to sound way less nervous than she felt. "It has to do with Alex."

Now there was a change in his tone. "Oh. What about her?"

"Um, I heard that you broke up with her. She's kind of torn up about it. I guess I was wondering why you did it," she said, feeling pleased that she had gotten part of it out.

"It wasn't working. That stuff happens," he replied, brushing it off. However, his voice suggested he actually _was_ dwelling on it a little. After a second, he asked, "Did you talk to her?"

"Yeah," Tea said. She suddenly felt on a roll. There was a definite hint of regret in his tone and if she kept this up, maybe she'd get them back together. "She was really upset. She didn't mean what she said to you."

Bakura sighed. "Tea, just the fact that a thought like that could even cross Alex's mind is more of an insult than you know. We can't have a relationship if she doesn't trust me."

"No, you don't understand," Tea said. "She was just mad. Alex says and does a lot of stuff when she's mad. She saw Elsie as competition and she was jealous. So, yeah, she said something stupid. She knows that! You should have seen her, Bakura. You really should have seen her."

"What do you mean?" he asked quietly.

Tea suddenly bit her tongue. She couldn't tell him the state Alex was in when she found her outside. But it was the only way she could keep Bakura's attention. If he really thought Alex was in trouble, he might go back to her. Tea _knew_ he loved her. So, closing her eyes, she broke her promise to Alex.

"If I tell you, you can't tell her I told you. She'd kill me. I'd be in trouble with her up to my ears," Tea said, sincerely hoping Bakura would be better at keeping promises than her.

"Yeah, okay," he replied with the obvious answer. "Why, what happened?"

"After you came inside after breaking up with her, I went out to her. She… she… Oh god I can't say it…" she stammered, her heart pounding. Guilt flooded her as she thought of her friend and the promise she had made to her.

But Bakura was concerned now. He wasn't going to let her stop now. "What, Tea? What did she do?"

"Oh Bakura, you should have seen how she was crying. She kept saying that she loved you and that she didn't want you to go. But, if it was just that, I wouldn't be so nervous. I think… Bakura I think she needs help." Suddenly Tea felt tears stream down her face.

"Tea? Why? What's going on?" he asked, panic growing in his voice.

"Oh Bakura… you should have seen how she was bleeding…" she choked, breaking down into full sobs.

She could almost feel his horror. "Bleeding?" he asked, terrified. "What do you mean bleeding?"

"She cut up her arms! There was blood all over the place! But I promised I wouldn't tell anyone and you just _can't_ tell her I told you! She'd never speak to me again!" she cried. There was silence on the other end of the phone. "Bakura?" There was a rude beeping in reply. "Bakura!" she cried, terrified.

She hung up the phone, shaking. Tears streamed down her face. Oh, she was in so much trouble. Bakura was probably on his way over to her house now. A part of her regretted saying anything to him, but the other part was relieved that someone finally knew. Maybe she'd get some help.

"Oh please don't say anything stupid," Tea pleaded with Bakura and Alex between sobs.

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a/n: Uh oh. What's gonna happen now? Review and I'll post!


	13. Confrontation

Bakura threw the phone down and leaped off the couch. His heart was pounding as he ran upstairs to his room. Why didn't Tea tell him sooner? Alex could hurt herself to the point of no return! He knew Alex wasn't happy about their breakup… neither was he… but he never thought that she'd resort to cutting herself. When he thought about it, he could almost feel the blade on his own skin.

He whipped his jacket out of his closet and threw it on, dashing back down the stairs. "I'm going out for a while dad," he called, sprinting to the door.

"Okay, where are you going?" his dad replied, leaning around his chair just in time to see the door shut behind his sun.

Bakura took off at a full run towards Alex's house. He didn't know what he'd say or do when he got there, or even if she'd talk to him, but deep inside he knew he had to go. The cool wind blew his hair into his eyes, but he didn't notice. He didn't notice anything or slow down until he was at Alex's door.

Gasping for breath, he knocked hard. Jade's car was in the driveway, so at least _she_ was at home. If nothing else, he could inform her of what Alex was doing to herself. He bent over and rested his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. A few seconds later, he straightened as the door opened.

"Bakura," Jade said, smiling. "Come in." She stood aside and he smiled as he entered. "I think Alex is upstairs."

"Thanks," he replied breathlessly.

"Did you run here or what? Sit down, catch your breath," Jade said, laughing slightly in confusion.

"That's okay, I'll be fine. I'll see you a little later," he said, climbing the stairs. She wasn't acting any differently towards him, which seemed odd. He wondered if Alex had even told her that they were over.

Naturally, her door was closed and locked, so he had no choice but to knock. He could hear her music blaring from inside, and he had to knock numerous times before she finally turned it down.

"What?" she snapped through the door.

"Alex, open up," Bakura stated. There was silence for a while, but just before he could say anything else, the door opened.

Alex stood there, glaring up at him. The first thing he noticed were the black, fingerless gloves she wore that stretched to her elbows. They were decorated in chains and studs, but it was clear that she had made them. "What are you doing here?" she asked coldly.

He pushed past her, knowing she wasn't going to invite him in. He heard her sigh and slam the door behind him. "I want to talk to you," he said, turning to her.

"Oh, so now you want to talk," she snarled, folding her arms. Her eyes were colder than ice and it stung him. He hated that look on her, especially when it was directed at him.

"I've never had anything against talking to you Alex. I've always tried to talk. You're the one that prefers otherwise," he corrected. He couldn't stand being so short with her, but he felt that right now he had to be. This was a matter not to be reckoned with.

"Why are you here?" Alex asked.

"Because I just got off the phone with someone and I wanted to make sure what they said wasn't true," he replied. He knew Tea would be in trouble if Alex knew she had told him, but even that was enough to give it away. He made a mental note to apologize later.

Alex's look hardened. "What's that mean?"

Without warning, Bakura moved swiftly over to her. He grabbed her arm and slid the glove down to her wrist sharply. Alex resisted and tried to pull away, but not quick enough. The angry red cuts all over her arm stood out louder than if they had been neon yellow. For a few seconds they just stood there, staring at each other.

Then, Alex ripped out of his grasp and pulled her glove up. She folded her arms and didn't look at him. Bakura suddenly felt a lump in the back of his throat. He closed his eyes and turned away, breathing deeply. But even his steady inhalation wouldn't get rid of it. His eyes began to moisten and he quickly wiped them, trying to do so subtly.

"Why would you do that, Alex?" he whispered a few minutes later. He didn't turn back to her, but he knew she was looking at him.

"What does it matter to you?" she snapped, though her voice was quiet.

"What?" he cried, spinning around. "What does it matter to me? Alex…" The lump came back and he couldn't stop a tear from rolling down his cheek. In his haste to wipe it away, he didn't notice the surprise on her face. "Alex do you know how dangerous that is?"

"Duh, I've done it before. I used to do it all the time. I know how deep is too deep," she said.

"You did it before?" he cried incredulously. "When?"

"It doesn't matter. It was after my parents died," she said quickly, brushing it off.

"Alex, please. I don't want to see you land in the hospital. What if an accident happens?" he begged, unable to keep his eyes dry. He wished he wasn't crying, but he couldn't stop. It hurt him to see those cuts on her arms.

"It won't. I'm good at it," Alex assured. She had never seen him cry before, but there was only vague surprise in her eyes. She was hiding her emotions well, and that also burned him. She shouldn't feel like she has to hide her feelings from him.

"You can't do this anymore, Alex. Even if you don't believe me, I still care about you. Just because we're not together doesn't mean I hate you. The last thing I want is to see you so miserable you resign to hurting yourself," he said, taking a step towards her.

She glared at him. "Why would you think I'm miserable?"

"Do you usually cut yourself when you're in a good mood?" he exclaimed desperately.

"Yeah!" she yelled back. "I can do it whenever I want!"

Bakura's eyes widened in horror. "Alex, that's a disease! You can't like doing that to yourself! Think of the scars!"

"Who cares about scars? It's not like anyone's gonna be examining my arms. Besides, I don't see why you care so much. You have Elsie, what do you have to bother me for?" she asked coldly.

Bakura winced mentally. "I don't have Elsie. I don't want her. You have me all wrong, Alex. I was just being her friend; I wasn't hitting on her. I never did anything to deserve the amount of mistrust you showed me when you accused me of that. I couldn't believe you would even think that."

"Whatever," Alex said, walking past him to her bed. She flopped back on it and punched her CD player. It turned on, the music practically shaking the walls.

Bakura winced as he stared at her for a second. He realized just how much he really missed her. But it was too late to do anything about it now, it seemed. She wasn't listening to him. Maybe Jade could do something more.

He turned around and left, shutting the door behind him, and muffling the deafening clash of instruments. Wiping his face, he descended the stairs, his heart beating nervously with what he was about to tell Jade.

She was sitting in the living room, watching TV, when he approached her. "Oh hey, do you need something?" she asked cheerfully when she saw him.

It took Bakura a second to find his voice. "Yes, as a matter of fact. I need to talk to you about Alex. There's something that's really wrong, and I want you to help her because since we broke up, she won't listen to me."

"Wait," Jade said, muting the television. "You broke up? When did that happen?"

"I don't know, about a week or so ago I guess. Anyway, I'm worried about her because I just found out that she's cutting herself. There are cuts all over her arms. I… I wish she'd listen and believe me when I tell her I still care, but she doesn't. She's tuned me out. Maybe you can get her some help," he said softly. He had to fight the tears again, but this time a deep breath took care of it.

"Oh my god…" Jade muttered, her fingers reaching her lips. "I can't… Oh my god… How do you know?"

"A friend told me and when I just went upstairs I saw her arm. It's obvious," he replied. He felt like he was betraying Alex by telling her sister, but this was what needed to be done.

"I just took her to a therapist today because of the fight that she got into Tuesday, but I had no idea she was cutting," Jade whispered. "Thank you for letting me know. I think I need to get her on some sort of medication."

"Yeah. I'm sorry about all of this. I wish I could be there for her, but she won't let me anymore. She's locked me out. We're in the same boat now, Jade," he said. Now he was getting a full understanding of what the redhead went through day after day. The terrible feeling of loving someone, but having them hate you in return, was almost too much for him to bear.

"I guess we are," Jade agreed solemnly. "Maybe you'd better go, Bakura. I'll go upstairs and talk to Alex. I don't want you here to add extra pressure to her. Please don't be offended."

Bakura shook his head. "No, I agree. I'll see you later. I hope I'll see Alex again at school soon too," he added, turning to leave. He sighed as he made his way down the hall and through the front door, closing it behind him. The sun was beginning to set now and he had to pull his jacket around him against the colder weather as he began his walk home.

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"Alex! Open the door!" Jade screamed, trying to climb over the blaring music. Finally, Alex wrenched the door open.

"What?" she cried, glaring at her.

"I need to talk to you," Jade said, entering her sister's room. She stalked over to the CD player and shut it off.

"I'll pass thanks," Alex snapped furiously.

"No, not this time. Bakura just told me some interesting information. Let me see your arms," Jade said, holding out her hand.

The color drained from Alex's face. "What? You have no right to touch me!"

"Alexandra!" Jade exclaimed, her emerald eyes blazing like poison. "Now!"

With a sigh, Alex slid one of her gloves down and held up her arm. She avoided her sister's gaze, especially when Jade took hold of her to get a better look.

"Why do you do this?" Jade asked, letting her go.

"Because I can," she replied, pulling her glove back up.

"Are you aware of how dangerous this is?" her sister asked incredulously.

"Course, if you don't know what the hell you're doing! But, it so happens, I know _exactly_ what I'm doing," Alex snarled.

Jade was speechless for a moment. Her emerald eyes stared vacantly at her sibling, whose burning fury radiated from her. After what seemed like hours, she said softly, "I think it's time for medication, Alex."

"No," she replied simply, folding her arms.

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that," Jade stated quietly, moving past her and out the door. The second she had left the room, the door slammed behind her.

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a/n: Uh oh. Alex isn't happy about that new information. Review to see what happens next!


	14. Prozac and Memories

Two and a half weeks passed before Jade could get Alex to a psychiatrist and five more days before she could get a prescription for Prozac filled at the pharmacy. By the time Jade was able to start medicating her sister, Alex was already preparing for her first day back at school.

"Alex, you're forgetting something," Jade called as Alex started to the door.

She stopped and sighed, annoyed, knowing what she "forgot." Her sister shoved two tiny white pills into her hand and held out a glass of water. Glaring at her, Alex tipped the pills into her mouth. As she took the water, she slid the Prozac under her tongue. Jade seemed pleased with herself as her sibling gave her back the glass. Without another word to each other, Alex left.

As soon as she got outside, Alex spit the pills out into the garden of weeds that ran along the front of the house. They had begun to dissolve, leaving her with a terrible taste in her mouth. As she walked to school, she continued to spit along the side of the road, trying desperately not to swallow any of the medicine. Slowly, the taste began to fade, much to her relief. She would definitely have to find another way to avoid taking the Prozac.

When Alex reached the school, she wasn't surprised that no one greeted her pleasantly. Instead, dirty looks and whispers followed her wherever she went. She could handle the glares, but the way her peers hissed rumors to each other as she passed reminded her of the way her previous school had acted when they found out about her parents' deaths.

"_God, did you see how she flipped out?"_

_"I know. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd been… you know…"_

Alex shook her head sharply and picked up her pace, trying to drive the memory away. The rumors that her father had either molested or abused her had spread through her old school like wildfire. There had been times when she actually considered the possibility that she just didn't remember, but she dismissed those thoughts almost immediately. Even if that _had_ happened, she didn't want to know.

However, the phraseology of the rumors hadn't changed much in her transference to Domino High. Each sentence she overheard sounded distinctly like what she had heard three years ago. She had never had flashbacks before, but as she walked through these unwelcoming halls, her thirteen-year-old self kept surfacing in the back of her mind.

_Alex, cut it out. You're losing it. All you've done is broken up with a boyfriend and gotten into a fight. This reaction is ridiculous_, she told herself numerous times throughout the day. It didn't seem to help much, especially when she walked past Rita, Darcy, Julie, and Brittany on her way to lunch. Alex was able to return their fiery glare easily, though she found herself feeling weaker deep inside.

There was another unpleasant surprise waiting for her inside the cafeteria. The second she entered the noise level dropped considerably. It seemed everyone was staring at her as she made her way to an empty table. Before she could sit down, though, someone grabbed her arm and spun her around.

Alex found herself staring into the icy, blue eyes that belonged to Elsie. She was about to snap at her when the blonde swatted her swiftly and hard across the face.

"How dare you! How could you do it? Julie doesn't have that much money! Her family doesn't even have insurance! How could you put such an expense on them?" she shrieked, angry tears in her eyes.

Alex stared at her, her hand at her burning cheek. "What are you standing up for her for? You told Bakura you weren't friends anymore!" she cried, suddenly near tears herself. Without waiting for an answer, she shoved Elsie out of the way and stormed out of the cafeteria. The last thing she wanted the now silent school to witness was her crying.

She ran through the vacant halls, dragging her backpack haphazardly in one hand. Just when she couldn't hold in the tears any longer, she reached the girls' bathroom. She burst inside, gasping for breath furiously. For a few seconds, she just stood there, waiting for her energy to come back.

Suddenly, she threw her backpack at full force against the far wall. There was a loud thud, but it couldn't cover up Alex's sudden burst of hysteria. She collapsed to her knees, images flooding her mind. Tears poured out of her eyes like rivers as she rocked back and forth in the middle of the bathroom. A part of her didn't know why she was crying so hard, but deep inside, she knew it was all the years that had finally built up. Flashback after flashback hit her harder than a train, each one eliciting another torrent of tears.

_"Darryl! Please… no!"_

_The _CRACK _of a gun and her mother dropped to the floor._

"_Did you see the news?"_

"_Her parents are all over the paper!"_

_The many whispers of her schoolmates…_

_Blood was pouring out of her arm in place of tears._

"_This isn't working. I think it's time we split."_

_Bakura pushed past her as she just stared after him in shock._

"_Alex, watch David. I'm going out with Rick."_

_One of the many times Jade had passed responsibility over to her sister._

"_David! David, where are you? David!"_

_The dream… The image of her brother's motionless body…_

"_Come here Allie, I want to show you something."_

"_I'm tired though. Can I go back to bed?"_

"_In a while sweetheart."_

_Her father was leading her into his bedroom._

Alex snapped her eyes open, her face dripping with tears. She had never seen the last image before, and it sent chills down her spine. Her heart began to beat faster and she gripped her hair, trying to drive the rumors from her head. They must have been true. She must have locked it out.

"No… No! Go away! Leave me alone! Why do you keep doing this to me?" she cried involuntarily, collapsing the rest of the way to the floor. Suddenly, as she lay on the hard tile floor, she saw her father lying beside her. She was young. Maybe five. She shouldn't be remembering this… She didn't want to remember.

"Go away…" she croaked, shutting her eyes tightly. She balled herself up into the fetal position, breathing heavily through her tears. "Go away… Leave me alone… I just want to be left alone…" she cried softly.

In the distance, she heard the bell. She slowly opened her eyes, afraid of what she might see. But through her watery vision, all that was visible was a good view of the tile floor. Her heart still pounding like a jackhammer, she shakily got to her feet. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirrors and winced. Her tears had streaked eyeliner all over her face. She stepped over to a sink and, using cold water, washed her face clean. As she retrieved her backpack, she didn't look at her reflection again, knowing she looked overly tired without her make-up. She didn't even want to think about how red her eyes were.

The rest of the day went slowly, though Alex was less than aware of anything that went on. She was really rather surprised that none of the teachers called her on her absent staring, but glad that she couldn't hear any of the students' whispers.

By three o'clock, Alex was more than ready to leave school. On her way out the door, she caught sight of Bakura and Elsie ahead of her. A mixture of anger and pain engulfed her as she watched her ex put his arm around Elsie's shoulders. Alex had a burning desire to bash their faces in, but she forced herself to stay where she was. Her fists clenched, she couldn't help feeling betrayed and alone. Just when she needed to talk to someone, he was gone. How could he have done that to her?

She watched as they turned the corner to go home in the same direction she would have to go. Knowing that she couldn't safely follow them, even just to get to her own house, she started down the opposite street towards town. Maybe there was a good movie playing that she could lose herself in. However, when she reached the theater fifteen minutes later, there was one more disaster waiting for her.

Alex went inside and was about to buy a ticket to _The Skeleton Key,_ when she saw a familiar face leave one of the theaters. She immediately recognized Rick with his arm around a girl who definitely _wasn't_ Jade. He didn't notice her as he left the building with the girl.

"I'll be right back," Alex said to the woman at the ticket counter. She followed Rick outside, a dangerous gleam in her eye. "Richard!" she called sharply.

He turned around quickly, and panic immediately flitted across his face when he saw her. Removing his arm from the girl's shoulder, he straightened. "Alex, what are you doing here?"

"Who's that?" the girl asked. She was rather attractive, far more than Jade, that was for certain. Her brown hair was tied up with chopsticks crisscrossed through her bun. The confused look in her crystal blue eyes told Alex that she had no idea that she was sharing Rick with another.

"I'm his girlfriend's sister. So, this is why you've been ditching Jade, huh? To bang her!" Alex snarled, taking a step closer to them.

"What? Rick…?" the brunette asked, nervous now.

Rick was also nervous as he tried to calm the girl. "No, Rhonda, that's ridiculous. You know I'd never do that."

"Oh really? Maybe you'd like to explain that to Jade!" Alex said, her eyes blazing.

"Who's Jade?" Rhonda asked, glaring at Rick.

"Just a friend of mine. I don't know where Alex got this crazy idea that we were dating. All Jade has ever been was a friend," he replied.

"A friend, huh? I'll give _you_ 'a friend!'" Alex shrieked, lunging at him. Before he could move, she had punched him square in the mouth, sending him stumbling backwards into Rhonda, who was screaming.

Rick touched his lower lip, which had exploded all over hischin with blood. When he looked back up at Alex, there was a murderous look on his face. Then, he barreled towards her. Alex tried to dodge him, but he was too fast. He grabbed her shirt and slammed her into the wall of the theater. Sliding one hand to her throat, he punched her swiftly in the face.

Alex felt his fist come in contact hard with her left eye, and for a second, she couldn't see anything out of it. Prying at his hand on her throat and gasping for breath, she brought her knee up as hard as she could into his groin. Immediately, he let go of her and doubled over. Inhaling glorious air as he released her throat, Alex didn't let her coughing cloud her mind. She placed her hands on top of his head and guided his face sharply into her knee. But before she could do anymore damage to her sister's unfaithful boyfriend, a security guard ran out of the theater and broke them up.

The guard had to stand between them with his arms extended to the sides yelling threats about the police before they finally began to back away. Rick's lip was swollen and red and his nose was still bleeding steadily. Alex could feel her eye beginning to pound and she had a feeling, neither good nor bad, that it was going to wind up being heavily bruised.

She hung around, though continuing to back away from the scene and the angry guard, long enough to watch Rhonda smack Rick hard across his already damaged face. With a hurt and furious glare at him, the brunette stormed off down the street.

Alex cackled with vengeful glee as she finally turned away from the theater and headed home. She had been victorious not only in destroying Rick's face, but in sabotaging his affair as well. Now, the only thing that remained was to somehow convince Jade that this had all went down. Then, her sister would finally be safe from the disturbing, cheating presence of Richard. The idea of never seeing his sickeningly sweet smile again made Alex grin despite herself. Her smirk widened the more she thought about what had happened, and she found that she had started to laugh.

What was it that people said? Something to the effect of, "When all goes wrong, sometimes all you can do is laugh." Well, that was what she was doing now. It was truly the mark of her insanity as her cackles grew louder, drawing strange looks from passerby. She didn't notice, and even if she had she wouldn't care, and just kept her pace towards home, laughing in a strange, creepy sort of way. Anyone who heard her was sure to think she was mad and maybe even consider calling the loony farm. However, at the moment, the loony farm would be a nice change from the hell she was currently living.

By the time she reached her house, though, all traces of happiness (if that's what you called it) had vanished. Her usual blank expression had returned, and there was a growing desire in the pit of her stomach that she knew she would have to fulfill in short order. The first task was to get by Jade, though. She didn't succeed in that mission.

No sooner had she closed the door behind her was her sister upon her. "Well, how was… _Oh my god!_ Alex what happened to your eye?" she shrieked when Alex turned around. "You'll be expelled again! Your first day back and you're already in a fight!"

"You moron, I didn't get in this fight at school. I ran into Rick at the movie theater with some other chick named Rhonda. He was all over her and we sorta got into it a bit," Alex replied, smirking at Jade. She waited for a devastated reaction, but her sister just stared blankly at her.

"Who's Rick?" she asked incredulously.

Alex gaped at her. "Your boyfriend Jade! Oh my _god_ you really _are_ a ditz!"

"What?" Jade asked. "That's not funny Alex! Why would you joke like that?"

"Oh for the love of god! Okay, you know what, invite him over tomorrow night for dinner. When he shows up with a busted lip and probably a fractured nose or something, you'll see I was right. I was _always_ right, even from the start when I told you he was a good-for-nothing jackass! He was cheating on you with this Rhonda character! I saw it with my own two eyes. And, if you still don't believe me, call the movie theater. One of their guards or whatever broke our fight up. He saw everything. Including Rhonda. I'm right Jade! You'll see!" Alex cried, jabbing her finger at her. Without waiting for an answer, she darted up the stairs.

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a/n: Whew… looks like Jade has her own male problems. She's gonna be hurting when she finds out Alex is right. Tune in next time to find out more!


	15. Bulimia

"Alex? Alex… are you okay?"

Tea waved her hand hesitantly in front of her friend's face. Alex looked so out of it. She had seen her sitting alone at lunch and came over to her, but Alex didn't seem to be acknowledging her presence.

"Alex, please, come on, talk to me," Tea pleaded.

"What the fuck do you want me to say? You betrayed me, just like everyone else. Get the hell away from me," Alex replied, her voice low. She sounded tired, like she hadn't slept in days. And there was something sickly looking about her too.

Her words burned Tea and she felt her eyes start to brim with tears. "I had to, Alex. You can't do this to yourself. It's too dangerous. You're hurting and you need help."

"No, I just need to be left alone. I never should have fucking told you. Now that Bakura knows, he told Jade, and she has me on Prozac now. I want to fucking die," Alex replied. She rested her head on her arms and closed her eyes.

Tea stared at her in shock. "Alex, if the Prozac isn't working like it should, tell Jade! She'll understand and take you off it!"

Alex looked up at her for the first time that day. Tea jumped mentally in surprise at her friend's bloodshot eyes. "I'm not taking it. I haven't for as long as she's had me on it. It took me a while to figure out how to do it, but I've got it now. I didn't know how to get around it, but I know now. I know now." A small, victorious smile flitted across her lips as her eyes fluttered in exhaustion.

Tea looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean? Why haven't you been taking it? How are you getting around it?"

Alex didn't appear to be able to fight her persistence, so she just resigned to telling her what she wanted to know. "I hid it under my tongue the first couple times and then spit it out, but Jade caught on to that. Then she made me take it in front of her and open my mouth to prove I swallowed it. But I slipped the pills between my teeth and my upper lip. Somehow, she figured out that I was still spitting them out, and she stopped giving them to me. I was confused and suspicious. She's been putting it in my food now, trying to hide it. I can't starve myself, but I have to get that poison out of my body. I eat and after every meal at the house, I make myself vomit. I have to. It's the only way to keep it away…" She stopped as she yawned widely, resting her head back down on her arms.

Tea gaped at her in horror. "Alex, you've been throwing up?" she cried. "That's bulimia! It's an eating disorder!"

"No, no, you don't understand," Alex said, her arms muffling her speech. "I'm not puking cause I think I'm fat. That's bulimia. I'm puking cause I can't take this fucking medication. That falls into the category of self-preservation, not this bulimia shit."

Tea couldn't get her mouth to close. She was frozen in that horrified state as she stared at her friend's tired body. "Oh my god, Alex… How long have you been doing this?"

"I dunno…" she mumbled. "When did I get back from suspension?"

"Last month, Alex! You've been doing this for a month?"

"No, about three weeks," she replied without looking up.

"All right. You know what? I'm telling an authority. You can't do this to yourself," Tea said, starting to get up. But suddenly, Alex snapped off the table and grabbed her wrist tightly, her bloodshot eyes blazing angrily.

"If you tell _anyone,_ Tea, I will kill myself. I swear to god. Think I'm lying? Go ahead then, tell someone. But if you want to see me again, I would advise you not to say anything. Got it?" she threatened in the same, low tone. It was eerie by itself, but combined with those blazing, red eyes, it sent shivers down Tea's spine.

"Alex, you can't do that…" she croaked, fear soaking her.

"Watch me."

"Let go of me… you're hurting me…" Tea choked out, prying at Alex's fingers. She let go, and retreated to her own space, watching Tea massage her wrist.

"Do you agree not to tell anyone?" Alex said quietly, her eyes still flashing with dangerous determination.

"Alex…" Tea started, her eyes brimming with tears again. She couldn't believe her friend was blackmailing her like this. What was she supposed to do? Bulimia could kill her, but if she said something, she'd deliberately kill herself.

"Say no, or you'll hear on the news that I'm dead."

"No, I won't tell anyone, but Alex, please, you have to stop!" Tea begged, tears now streaming down her face. "I don't want anything to happen to you! This is all too dangerous!"

"I'll be fine, Tea. I know what I'm doing. I always know what I'm doing," Alex replied.

Tea couldn't think of anything else to say. Even if she could have, though, she wouldn't have been able to get the words out through the lump in her throat. Now she could pin down that sickly look about her friend. Three weeks of bulimia could lower her weight considerably and certainly lower her health and ammune system. She had to find a way to help Alex, but she didn't know how.

Alex was now staring idly at the table with those horrible, bloodshot eyes, humming an unrecognizable tune. She seemed so out of it... so crazy...almost like she was due for the loony farm. With one last desperate try at sanity, Tea spoke through her tears.

"Alex, you know everyone will be talking when they see you're losing weight," she said, her eyes searching for any kind of response.

Alex only laughed. "Oh Tea, I don't care anymore. I can cut, puke, or do anything else and I don't care. I could drop dead on the spot and I wouldn't care. The only thing that really mattered to me is gone. Bakura's with Elsie now, didn't you hear? Yeah... he finally has the girl of his dreams. I was stupid to think that maybe I was. You know... I really thought that he might be the one? But no... I just remembered I don't believe in that. I'll never have anyone. I'll die young and painfully with no one there to hold my hand." She laughed again and Tea's mouth dropped open in horror at her words. "There was never anyone for me. Bakura was just another game that God played with me."

"No, that's not true..." Tea tried, but Alex shook her head.

"The bell's about to ring. You should get your things."

Before the brunette could speak, loud ringing sounded in the cafeteria, marking the end of lunch. "Alex..."

"I'm out, Tea. I'm out of everything now. See you later," Alex replied vacantly as she stood. Tea noticed her baggy shirt and how it seemed to flow around her much more easily now than it had. Her pants were threatening to slide down her hips, revealing plaid boxers poking out of the top. She stooped briefly to grab her backpack before trudging slowly through the double doors of the cafeteria.

Tea just stared after her for a few seconds, tears once again brimming in her eyes. Then, she got up to get her own things, trying to push her troubled friend from her mind to make way for the studies of her next class.

It seemed like school dragged on for ages after lunch, even though she really only had two hours and fifteen minutes left. By the time the bell rang, Alex felt ready to collapse out of exhaustion. She hadn't slept well at all since she started vomiting and it showed in her behavior and appearance. She no longer bothered to put on make-up in the morning, so the dark circles under her eyes were completely visible. The cuts now spread from her arms to her legs, and even the occasional stomach cut could be seen when she was changing for gym. Other girls _were_ staring and talking, but she didn't care. No one knew her or what she was going through. No one cared. So why should she?

With a sigh, she slowly dragged her backpack up onto her shoulder as she headed out the classroom door. Her thoughts turned to what Tea said about bulimia. Surely what Alex was doing didn't fit under that category. Bulimics couldn't control when they threw up after a while. It took control over them and they let it kill them. Alex had full control over what she was doing. She wasn't even doing it because she somehow thought she was fat. She was doing it for a very good and logical reason that Tea didn't seem to be able to comprehend. How else was she to defeat Jade and rid herself of the medication? No, she didn't have a disease. She was fine. So what if she was losing a bit of weight? She could stand to lose a bit. She certainly didn't have Elsie's figure. What was the big deal? And she only threw up at her own house. She kept what she ate at school down, the little that it was.

With a sigh, she left the school and started down her road, the cool breeze whipping through her hair. She needed to redye it, she remembered, seeing the locks fly in front of her face. The brown was starting to show at the roots.

It was a long and boring walk, and Alex was beginning to wish she had taken the bus. But, then she thought differently when she remembered the girls in gym. Surely the girls on the bus would talk too. The less people who knew about her the better.

She could now see her house in the distance and there was a gloomy look about it. It almost seemed as if death itself waited for her within those walls. That house was her prison, locking her inside whenever it could. The only thing good about it was David.

Lately he had been acting differently around her. He seemed so concerned that he didn't know what to say or do. She just would smile at him and close her door, leaving her little brother behind wondering what was happening to his beloved sister. Alex felt so horrible thinking of David and how she couldn't help but treat him, though, so she forced her mind to stop all thought.

As she walked up the steps to her front door, she sighed, ready to enter the hell that was supposed to be her home. Without announcing her arrival, she closed the door behind her and started for the stairs. However, she suddenly found her path blocked by Jade in once swift move.

"Alex, thank god, do you know where David is?" Jade asked. Alex focused her tired eyes on Jade slowly and made out the panicked look on her sister's face.

Without thinking, she replied, "No, why, isn't he here?"

"If he was I wouldn't have asked you!" Jade shrieked. Alex suddenly was struck with a bolt of worry as she watched her sister wring her hands. "He didn't come home today from school. I've called all his friends and they haven't seen him since lunch."

Alex's dream flashed into her mind and her heart began to race. "Have you tried them again? Are you sure he's not just late?" she asked, fully awake and alert now.

"Yes I'm sure. Should we call the police? Oh Alex, what are we going to do?" Jade said, tears welling in her eyes.

"You mean you haven't called the cops yet?" Alex cried, running to the phone. "David could be dead on the side of the road!"

As she dialed 911 the horrifying details of her dream burned before her eyes.


	16. Nightmares and Reality

"I don't _know,_ officer. If I did, I wouldn't have called you here!" Jade yelled at the two police officers, who were standing in her living room. They had arrived not fifteen minutes after Alex had called 911, and though Jade had been impressed with the speed, it hadn't seemed fast enough in comparison to the catastrophe at hand.

"Miss, you have to understand this is all standard procedure. We have to investigate those with direct contact to the missing child. We'll also need any other possible contact information of friends and family he might have run off to stay with," police officer, Reynolds, said. He was writing in a pad, clearly not identifying with Jade.

Reynolds was nearly twenty years older than her; in his forties, it seemed. His hair was graying and there was a bald spot appearing on top of his head. The eyes behind the thick, black-rimmed glasses were dimming, the life beginning to diminish. He was becoming just another man of the law, hardened to the people he cared for and protected. His job took precedent; everything else was unimportant.

His partner, Jacobs, however, was nearly the opposite. He was young and appeared to still be in training. Reynolds was continuously instructing Jacobs on what to do and what to ask Jade and the trainee was starting to get upset by his superior's calloused comments.

Jacobs looked in his twenties with bright red hair and lively green eyes. He was slim and appeared to have a sense of humanity and compassion. Though he tried to hide it under Reynolds' instruction, the pain he felt for Jade and Alex showed in his emerald eyes. He would be more of a help to the sisters than his superior.

Jade dried her cheeks of hot tears and said, frustrated, "David has no other family but us, and all his friend's numbers are on the paper on the refrigerator. When are you going to send men out to find my brother?"

"Ma'am, we can't file a missing person's report until after twenty-four hours. It's regulation. I'm sorry, but if your brother is still missing by tomorrow at three thirty, then maybe we can do something. Until then, I'll take your information and be on my way," Reynolds said without the slightest hint of sympathy.

"_What?_" Jade cried, nearly hyperventilating in panic and anger. "How can you not look into it today? By tomorrow, he could be dead! What's wrong with you people? You have to look for him! What if he's lying in a ditch somewhere, bleeding to death?"

Jacobs interrupted to answer before Reynolds could show any less compassion than he already was. "Ma'am… miss… We have to make sure he's not a runaway. We can't have our people running around looking for runaways with the kind of men needed for missing children. We just have to be sure. If David is still missing by tomorrow afternoon, call us again and we'll write a report. We'll find him, one way or another," he said gently, touching Jade's shoulder. His heart broke as she broke into hysterical tears, sinking down onto the couch.

Alex was in the kitchen, pacing back and forth, as she listened to her sister argue with the police. They had already interrogated her and she had needed to use every bit of self-control she had to keep from punching Reynolds in the face. He didn't care at all about David's disappearance. Just as she was about to burst from anger, she remembered something she had seen on the news the week before.

She stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the kitchen counter, trying to be sure she was remembering an actual event rather than an imaginary one. Then, without warning, she burst into the living room. The police were just starting out the door and they turned back in surprise as she called out for them.

"What about that serial killer or whatever? There's been a whole bunch of kids reported missing all over the coast! Don't you think this is connected?" she cried. Deep in her heart, she prayed that they would say no, but she was also hoping that perhaps it wasn't too late if she was right.

Jacobs' eyes showed that he immediately considered this, though he remained silent. He looked at Reynolds for direction as Jade burst into even louder hysterics.

"Oh Alex, you can't actually think that! Don't even suggest that!" she wailed, burying her face in her hands.

"I highly doubt it, Ma'am. The last victim was found in Tokyo. That's far enough from here where you don't have to worry," Reynolds replied, his voice remaining dry.

"But the guy's been traveling down the coast, _heading this way_! Don't you think it's possible? Hasn't he skipped counties before? I've been watching this on the news for the past month and a half! You're just going to dismiss the possibility? If there's a chance it's connected to the Roadside murders, don't you think you should investigate _now?"_ Alex cried. As she named the killings, her heart stopped. Images of her dream flooded through her head and her breath caught in her throat.

_Roadside…_ she thought, remembering her brother's glazed eyes.

"That is out of our jurisdiction and I can't…" Reynolds started, growing irritated with her persistence. However, he was cut short by her immediate dash to the door.

"Alex! Alex, where are you going?" Jade choked out as her sister ripped her jacket of the hook and bolted out the door.

Roadside… roadside… roadside… 

The visions kept pulsating before her eyes as she heard the police yell after her. She just continued to fly down the road, determined to prove herself wrong.

The day was fading to night as she ran down the street, the sun disappearing behind the wall of trees to her right. The wind was growing quicker and her unfastened jacket flew behind her. She was vaguely aware of a siren starting in the distance and the thought that now the cops were coming after _her_ only briefly crossed her mind.

"David! David, where are you?" she screamed, wishing for an answer but knowing she wouldn't get one.

As she ran, her feet pounding on the asphalt, she had a sudden feeling of déjà vu. This had happened before. Not in real life, no… but in the dream…

"David!" Where was he? Her stomach felt like she had swallowed bricks and her heart was pounding in her throat. Why couldn't she find him?

In the growing darkness, she watched carefully for any figures that resembled the one in her dream. However, as the minutes passed, she saw no such person.

Though she was quickly becoming short of breath, she didn't dare slow down, fearing that she would be too late to save her brother. Deep in her heart, however, she had a sinking feeling it was already too late.

_Don't think like that! It's never too late! You can find him!_ she scolded herself, forcing her legs to keep moving.

The siren behind her was growing louder as it neared and the car's flashing lights started to shed some light on the area. Alex heard Reynolds yelling for her to stop but he would have to make her. There was no way she was going to stop her search on her own.

Then, in the dim glow of the red and blue police lights, she saw something on the ground ahead of her.

On the side of the road.

"_David!"_ she screamed, running even faster. Her heart felt about reading to beat out of her chest and her feet ached from pounding on the ground, but the pain didn't register. The only thing on her mind was the figure lying on the ground ahead of her. Tears brimmed in her eyes already, seeing the dream image of her brother.

The sirens and the flashing lights all mixed, making the scenario seem surreal. Like a dream. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears combined with the yelling of the police, but she ignored them as she neared the motionless body.

"David! David, please no…" Alex begged to no one as she slowed down, finally unable to run anymore. Gasping for breath, she covered the last few feet between her and her destination slowly, not wanting to see what lay there waiting for her.

Finally, she drew near enough to see blood pooled what she knew was her brother's head. In a few more steps, she was standing over David, staring into his glassy eyes. The picture was an exact replica of her dream and for a minute, she stood, not breathing, praying that she would wake up. But the flies buzzing around her ears and the sight of his blood slowly seeping through the grass into the street brought reality to her viciously.

A piercing scream seared through the night as she backed away from her little brother, her hands creeping up to her face to pull at her hair. She started shaking her head violently, trying to push the sight away, but to no avail. Every time she focused on the scene around her, David was still lying on the ground, staring up at the sky with horrified, dead eyes.

The police had jumped out of their car and Reynolds was on the radio, calling for backup. Jacobs had run to Alex's side and was unsuccessfully trying to calm her. She seemed unaware that the young officer was there; she could only stare at the crime scene that was her beloved brother.

"Miss Moore… Alex… Come on… Come with me…" Jacobs stammered, trying to turn her away. He put his hand gently on her arm and pulled her. Surprisingly, Alex let him guide her to the police car without too much of a struggle. By the time he put her in the back, she was crying uncontrollably.


End file.
